The Role of Anthropologic Measurements in Pectus Carinatum Brace Treatment Evaluation

Abstract

Objectives: Brace treatment in children with pectus carinatum has become the method of choice during the last decade. The authors evaluate the role of anthropometric measurements in diagnostic and treatment processes.
Methods: A prospective study, analysing a compressive brace treatment for pectus carinatum,  performed between January 2018 and September 2020. Demographic data, anthropometric dimensions and indexes of the chest, data connected to an orthosis usage, as well as ongoing treatment outcomes were analysed.
Results: Forty-seven consecutive patients aged between 10 to 18 years with pectus carinatum were prescribed a compressive brace. Thirtynine of them (83 %) reached clinically positive results while wearing the orthosis for 6 ± 3 months. An improvement in the sagittal chest diameter was 0.5 cm – 2.8 cm (mean 1.0 cm ± 0.5 cm) and an improvement of the Thoracic Index was 0.8 % – 25.1 % (6.4 % ± 4.5 %) by using the brace on average for (6 ± 2) hours a day.
Conclusion: Clinical anthropometric measurements can evaluate the dimensions of chest wall and treatment progress in patients with pectus carinatum precisely and thus replace the need for more complex examinations requiring X-rays.