title: Symptomatic pectus excavatum in seniors: an exploratory study on clinical presentation and incidence in daily practice.
abstract: Objectives. Doctors all over the world consider a pectus excavatum usually as an incidental finding. There is some evidence suggesting that a pectus excavatum may cause symptoms in the elderly. It is not known how often a pectus excavatum occurs and how strong the relation is with symptoms. Methods. In hospitals and general practice data, we searched for evidence of a connection between cardiac symptoms and the presence of a pectus excavatum in a retrospective survey among patients in whom a pectus excavatum was found in a chest X-ray. In radiology reports, we searched for "pectus excavat(∗) " in almost 160000 chest X-rays. The identified X-rays were reviewed by 2 radiologists. Reported symptoms were combined to a severity sum score and the relation with pectus excavatum was assessed through logistic regression. Results. Pectus excavatum was found in 1 to 2 per 1000 chest X-rays. In 32% of patients (N = 117), we found symptoms that might reflect the presence of symptomatic pectus excavatum. We found a significant relation between the SPES sum score and the radiological level of pectus excavatum. Conclusions. A pectus excavatum found when examining the patient should not be neglected and should be considered as a possible explanation for symptoms like dyspnoea, fatigue, or palpitations.
authors: Department of Integrated Care, Maastricht University Medical Centre, P.O. Box 5800, 6202 AZ Maastricht, The Netherlands ; Department of General Practice, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors: Ron A G
authors: RA
authors: Winkens
authors: Department of General Practice, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors: Frank I
authors: FI
authors: Guldemond
authors: Department of General Practice, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors: Paul F H M
authors: PF
authors: Hoppener
authors: Department of Cardiology, Atrium Medical Centre, P.O. Box 4446, 6401 CX Heerlen, The Netherlands.
authors: Hans A
authors: HA
authors: Kragten
authors: Department of General Practice, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors: J Andre
authors: JA
authors: Knottnerus