• Bing Xu and Wen-ying Liu.
• Department of Pediatric Surgery, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.
• Zhonghua Yi Xue Za Zhi. 2010 Jul 13; 90 (26): 1816-9.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the pulmonary function in patients with pectus excavatum before and after Nuss procedure and stratified according to age.MethodsA total of 45 patients treated at our hospital from March 2007 to January 2008 were recruited retrospectively. Pulmonary function was assessed 3 days before and 3 months after surgery. Non-thoracoscopy-aided Nuss procedure was performed for correction. The data were analyzed and stratified according to age (< 12 years and ≥ 12 years).ResultsThe post-operative value of VC (vital capacity, 74% ± 17%) significantly decreased compared to its pre-operative value (89% ± 25%). RV (residual volume) and TLC (total lung capacity) also significantly decreased (135% vs 139%, 93% vs 96%) while RV/TLC was elevated (157% vs 148%) (all P < 0.05). When stratified according to age, post-operative TLC value decreased in older group and no significance was noted in younger group. As to the indices of ventilation function, post-operative MVV (maximal voluntary ventilation), PEF (peak expiratory flow), MMEF (maximal mid-expiratory flow), V(75), V(50), and V(25) improved, FVC (forced vital capacity) decreased (all P < 0.05) while FEV(1) (forced expired volume in one second) and BR (bronchial responsiveness) had no significant change. When stratified according to age, the post-operative values of PEF, MMEF, V(50), V(25) improved in younger group in contrast to those in older group. No significant post-operative change of FEV(1) was noted in younger group while a significant decrease was found in older group. No significant change of MVV was noted in younger group and significant post-operative improvement was present in the older group.ConclusionsIn general, the Nuss procedure brings no significant improvement of pulmonary function in short-term follow-up. Most of the indices pertaining to lung capacity decrease whereas most of those pertaining to ventilation function increase. A decrease of lung capacity is significantly lower in younger patients than in elders. And the improvement of ventilation function is better in younger patients than in elders.

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