title: Measurement of sternal curvature angle on patients with pectus excavatum.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pectus excavatum (PE) is a chest deformity characterized by marked sternal depression. The objective of this study was to quantify the sternal curvature observed in patients diagnosed with PE using the sternal curvature angle (SCA).
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective review of lateral chest X-rays of patients with PE from 2006 to 2013 was performed. The SCA was measured in a manner similar to the method of Cobb's angle is used to measure spinal curvature. SCA and Haller index were calculated from the chest X-rays for all patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Lateral chest X-rays of 202 PE and 196 normal control patients were analyzed. The mean SCA ± SD of PE patients was 40.56° ± 12.88° compared to 22.02° ± 7.65° for normal patients. The difference was statistically significant with a p value of <0.0001. No significant concordance between SCA and Haller index measurements in the PE group was found (Kendall τ = -0.00015, p value = 0.9975).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The difference in sternal curvature as measured by the sternal curvature angle between the pectus excavatum and normal patients was statistically significant. Our data suggest that sternal depression evident in PE patients is not a simple linear depression of the sternum but due to curvature in the sternal body.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Surgery, UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital, 744 52nd Street, Suite 4100, Oakland, CA, 94609, USA.
authors.forename: Cory
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Surgery, UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital, 744 52nd Street, Suite 4100, Oakland, CA, 94609, USA.
authors.forename: Abraham
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zavala-Garcia
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Surgery, UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital, 744 52nd Street, Suite 4100, Oakland, CA, 94609, USA.
authors.forename: Neha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Teekappanavar
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Surgery, UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital, 744 52nd Street, Suite 4100, Oakland, CA, 94609, USA.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Surgery, UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital, 744 52nd Street, Suite 4100, Oakland, CA, 94609, USA.
authors.forename: Olajire
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Idowu
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Surgery, UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital, 744 52nd Street, Suite 4100, Oakland, CA, 94609, USA. skim@mail.cho.org.
authors.forename: Sunghoon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005660:Funnel Chest / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D013902:Radiography, Thoracic / Q000379:methods*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013249:Sternum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D035441:Thoracic Wall / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging
keywords: Pectus excavatum; Sternal curvature angle; Sternum