title: Symptoms in Pectus Deformities: A Scoring System for Subjective Physical Complaints.
abstract: BackgroundThe literature is silent on the relationship between symptoms and the Haller index. Nor is there a classification of the severity of the physical complaints.Materials and MethodsRetrospectively, data from 128 patients (102 funnel, 25 pigeon chest patients, and 1 mixed type) were evaluated. To objectify the symptoms, we developed a score to describe the level of physical ailments. This score includes 10 different symptoms as well as the situation or frequency in which they occur and an impact factor. This depends on how much they affect everyday life.ResultsPectus excavatum patients express physical complaints more frequently than pectus carinatum patients who actually suffer more from psychological stress. We could not find a correlation between the Haller index and symptoms or levels of ailment.ConclusionPectus deformities are likely to cause physical and psychological complaints. Since the subjective symptoms did not show any correlation to the chest severity index, they are supposed to be independent from the deformity's extent.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, University Hospital Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Franziska
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ewert
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, University Hospital Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Syed
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, University Hospital Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Sonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kern
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, University Hospital Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Besendörfer
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, University Hospital Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Roman T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Carbon
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, University Hospital Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schulz-Drost
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017281:Cost of Illness; D005260:Female; D005660:Funnel Chest / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D006304:Health Status; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D066166:Pectus Carinatum / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013249:Sternum / Q000002:abnormalities*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology; D055815:Young Adult