• Pinar Kuru, Asli Dudakli, Hakan Mursaloglu, Hazal Arikan, Aysu Oktay, and Mustafa Yuksel.
• Department of Neurology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA pnr.kuru@gmail.com.
• Asian Cardiovasc Thorac Ann. 2015 Oct 1; 23 (8): 945-9.

AimWe aimed to determine the effects of minimally invasive repair of pectus excavatum on pulmonary function and quality of life.MethodsMinimally invasive pectus excavatum repair was undertaken in 80 patients with a mean age of 16.91 ± 4.37 years (range 7-30 years) and a mean Haller index of 4.07 ± 1.39; 85% of the patients were male. They and their parents completed the Nuss Questionnaire Modified for Adults, and pulmonary function tests were performed on the patients before and 6 months after the operation.ResultsThe mean Nuss score was 31.06 ± 6.78 before the operation and it increased to 37.1 ± 8.31 (p = 0.000) 6 months after the operation. Forced vital capacity decreased from 3.70 ± 1.23 to 3.48 ± 1.03 L (p = 0.05) postoperatively. The percentage of expected forced vital capacity decreased from 83.21% ± 16.97% to 76.52% ± 20.98% (p = 0.01). There was no significant change in forced expiratory volume in 1 s. The mean ratio of forced expiratory volume in 1 s to forced vital capacity was 86% preoperatively and it increased to 91% postoperatively (p = 0.000).ConclusionsMinimally invasive pectus excavatum repair has a positive impact on the quality of life of pectus excavatum patients, but a negative impact on forced vital capacity. Follow-up studies are needed to assess the long-term changes in pulmonary function after this operation.© The Author(s) 2015.

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