Pectus Excavatum - Seeking Advice

My son was diagnosed with it shortly after birth. His is not severe so the Dr are watching it. There seem to be no affects on his heart or lungs at this time. It has not gotten worse so they are being conservative in just watching it.
I also have this. The only affect it has on me is I have a very slight mitral valve prolapse. I was very active in sports in school and had no trouble keeping up.
I am assuming it is not severe as they just diagnosed it. I would just keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn't get worse as he grows.

My co-worker's son has this along with another condition. He was diagnosed around age 11 and now is 13. He has had no problems at all. She gave me the number of a great doctor in Minneapolis who is working with her son. Let me know if you'd like it.

Dear D.,
I was diagnosed with the exact same thimg as a child & actually had the thoracic surgery to correct this only because my chest wall was so concave that it was actually placing pressure on my heart. I am now 36, still have a steel bar in my chest & am just fine & dandy. I guess what I would tell you is that unless it's actually causing your son health issues, I wouldn't worry about it. If it does get to the point someday when he may have to have it surgically corrected, I would not wish this surgery on an enemy! It is very painful & takes quite some time to recover from.

Good luck to you & God bless~
S. V.

Hello!
I wouldn't worry at all if I were you. I have a long family history of pectus excavatum, including myself. I have two children who do not have this though. My grandma, dad and all have/had this as well as two of my uncles. My grandma lived to be 93 and my dad is very healthy this day, as well as myself and my uncles. The only things we've really experienced, that has been attributed to this, were short episodes of our hearts racing. The first time I experienced this, that I know of, wasn't until high school. It raced for a minute or so and went away. I have had EKG's which were inconclusive. I was told not to worry about this and this happens to many people and can be a one time thing.

I was and continute to be very active, in every kind of sport and activity you can imagine, without any sort of a problem what-so-ever. I actually didn't even know I had a "problem" until later on when I realized my friends didn't have this same indent I had. It's tricky for females, as you can imagine, fitting certain garments on top!

Anyway, I wouldn't think any problems would lie in your son's future at all - let him be the little boy that he is without limitations! I hope this is encouraging for you and your family!

D. , My son was diagnosed after birth with pectus excavatum . We see and endocronologist at the University of Iowa Hospital for our sons short stature so when we are there for his check ups the Dr. messures it . Also when we are at our MDs. office once a year for his exam our MD checks it. I do have a friend whose son had the same thing and when he turned 15 they went to the U of I and had surgery to place a bar in his chest . It was definetly a growth issuse with him the older he got the deeper it got.He had the bar removed in the summer when he truned 17 and he is fine now. The problem with pectus excavatum is that it can squeze the heart and lungs and that is why the doctors like to mes. it. As long as they know it is there and they are keeping track of it I would not worry. My son is now ten and we just keep an eye on it. Good luck and do not worry as long as you are aware you are fine.

I'm curious to hear what others say. My 13 year old has this too.
M.