It is a depression in the sternum of children and adolescents, which brings them cardiac, respiratory and psychological problems.
Previously it was corrected with an intervention but now the treatment can be done at home with a system used at the Castro Rendón hospital
The vacuum or suction bell is a method to correct certain degrees of “pectus excavatum”, which is a depression of the sternum, the bone located in the center of the chest, and the lower central portion of the ribs, the costal cartilages. This non-surgical treatment was used for the first time this month in the Castro Rendón hospital in children under twelve years of age. “All the success is summarized in that a child can take a picture in the river and no one asks him why he has sunken or left the bone out,” said doctor Mariano Ojeda, a member of the hospital’s pediatric surgery team.
“The ‘pectus’ is a malformation of the wall of the chest where the sternum goes forward or backward. It is called ‘pectus carinatum’, when it goes forward, or ‘pectus excavatum’, when it sinks, “explained Ojeda.
He added that “it is a disease proper to children. This is because the costal cartilages grow more, and reach the middle, and collide. ”
It usually becomes visible at two or three years of age, can be more severe during childhood and continue to progress during puberty.
It is more common in men than in women and requires multidisciplinary treatment.
“It is a little more prone in children to pectus outward, and in girls to inside,” said the doctor.