Abstract

Backgroud: Pectus excavatum, the most common congenital thoracic deformity, is particularly difficult to correct in adults with reduced chest wall flexibility. For the repair of pectus excavatum, we have conducted sterno-costal elevation, which consists of resecting the redundant costal cartilages and the lower part of the sternum and resuturing the remaining costal cartilages to the sternum, and does not use any exogenous materials or require a second operation.
Methods: We treated a 27-year-old female patient with an asymmetrical chest concavity who was referred to us because of consistent precordial pain with sterno-costal elevation. In this case, we added an oblique osteotomy across the anterior sternal table to reform the torsion of the sternum with a pneumatic powered drill.
Results: The procedure corrected the deformity well, and the patient was very satisfied with the result one year after the operation.
Conclusions: Sterno-costal elevation for pectus excavatum, which does not require any exogenous materials or additional operations, is effective in the treatment of pectus excavatum in a female adult patient with a symmetrical chest deformity and moderate sternal torsion.