Cardiorespiratory fitness after correction of pectus excavatum: a systematic review with meta-analysis.

ABSTRACT: Pectus excavatum or funnel chest is the most prevalent chest wall deformity. Surgical correction is the treatment of choice which is predominantly performed on children and adolescents, often with significant surgical complication rates. While correction is primarily pursued for aesthetic reasons, proponents argue that correction of the inward deformity alleviates compression of the heart, consequently enhancing cardiorespiratory fitness. This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to assess whether surgical correction of pectus excavatum yields improvements in cardiorespiratory fitness, quantified as maximal oxygen uptake ([Formula: see text]O₂max). A search of PubMed, Scopus, and Embase was conducted for studies evaluating the changes in [Formula: see text]O₂max/[

SUBMITTER: Media AS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12276308 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature