Among congenital deformations, the funnel-shaped chest ("cobbler's chest") is far from being the last in the occurrence, three times more often diagnosed in men. As a rule, this developmental defect is observed in people with asthenic (thin-skinned) type of physique, first showing up in childhood or adolescence and progressing as the body grows.
What is this pathology?
The funnel-shaped chest is characterized by the westernization of the anterior thoracic wall at the sternum level or from the side, thus forming a symmetrical or asymmetric depression, similar in shape to the funnel. During a deep inspiration due to the underdevelopment of the sternal stalk of the diaphragm, the depth of the funnel increases.
In addition to a noticeable cosmetic defect causing serious psychological disorders, this disorder causes functional disorders in the cardiovascular and respiratory systems due to the displacement of organs. Often, the funnel-shaped chest is combined with the curvature of the spine. Patients with this pathology are characterized by such symptoms as:
- increased fatigue;
- frequent bronchitis and pneumonia ;
- pain in the heart, shortness of breath .
Causes of Funnel Chest
Factors that reliably serve as the cause of the formation of the deformation under consideration have not yet been established. Specialists only name a few main possible variants of the appearance of pathology associated with violations of embryonic development:
- delayed or incorrect ossification of bone cartilage in a given area in the fetus, due to which the sternum changes its shape and size;
- congenital changes of the diaphragm, namely, shortening of its sternal part, which leads to the formation of an edge skeleton at an irregular angle, a violation of the physiological geometry of the trunk;
- incorrect position of the fetus in the uterus, often combined with malignancy, in which there is a constant pressure on his chest;
- impact on the fetal bone tissue of toxins, infectious agents.
There are data confirming the genetic predisposition to this pathology.
Treatment of funnel-shaped chest without surgery
If in children some non-surgical methods can bring positive results, then in adults, unfortunately, conservative treatment of funnel-shaped deformation of the chest is absolutely ineffective. Moreover, in the absence of adequate treatment in childhood in adult patients, in most cases already there are significant violations from the heart and lungs. Therefore, to correct the chest wall, it is expedient to use surgical intervention.
Surgical treatment of funnel-like deformation of the chest
To date, there are several techniques for surgical intervention to eliminate this deformation. Most of them involve the introduction of general anesthesia in the sternum of straightening plates made of titanium.
Other methods involve the use of bone grafts, magnets, silicone, etc. Contraindications to surgery may be severe concomitant pathologies of the heart, respiratory or central nervous system.