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What is Funnel Chest?
Funnel chest is one of many possible varieties of chest wall deformity. Funnel chest (pectus excavatum) is an indrawing of the central part of the front of the chest, usually asymmetrical and involving the lower part of the breastbone (sternum). Pigeon chest (pectus carinatum) is a bulging forward of the bone and cartilage in the same region.
Chest wall deformities commonly also involve the ribs or spinal column, with signs of abnormal body posture.
What trouble can this cause?
Children and young people are usually free of symptoms, as the chest wall is elastic in the first decades of life, and as the organs develop gradually they have time to adapt. But with increasing age there is a build-up of symptoms on exertion such as a racing heartbeat (palpitations), and patients tire easily. These symptoms can be caused by narrowing of the chest cavity, which becomes more pronounced when standing upright. The heart does not have enough room to expand in order to increase its stroke volume when required, and so needs to pump faster. The expansion of the lungs can also be restricted.
Causes and Types
Funnel chest and pigeon chest are caused by hereditary factors, weakness of the costal cartilage (defective metabolism in the cartilage), and mechanical forces.
Abnormal posture in adolescence has an adverse effect on the equilibrium of the chest wall. In many cases the deformity becomes particularly marked while the body is growing at its fastest.
The types of chest wall deformity are not generally sex-specific. But special forms can affect the soft tissues covering the ribcage. Supplementary plastic surgery (such as implants) may therefore be necessary in some cases, particularly in female patients.
