Repair of pediatric pectus deformity and congenital heart disease as a combined procedure

Coexisting pectus deformity and congenital heart disease is not uncommon. T raditionally, the approach to this problem has been to repair each one with a separate surgical procedure because of fear of increased complications f rom bleeding, infections, and anesthesia. More recently, many reports of su ccessful combined repair have been published, particularly in adults with c oronary artery or aortic pathology The authors wished to determine the feas ibility of this combined procedure in younger patients, particularly those with a severe pectus deformity. Three patients underwent repair, including a 17 year old with Marfan's syndrome and a severe pectus excavatum deformit y. The postoperative course was smooth for these patients, and all had good short- and long-term (over 18 months) results. Copyright (C) 1999 by W.B. Saunders Company.