Pectus excavatum and breast asymmetry: correction with breast augmentation

INTRODUCTION: Pectus excavatum is defined as a depression approaching the sternum and costal cartilages to the spine. Several theories explain its etiology, the most accepted of which is the exaggerated growth of the costal cartilages, which causes a posterior displacement of the sternum and consequent depression. The treatment includes correction of breast asymmetries by using silicone breast implants in patients without cardiopulmonary symptoms, only with esthetic complaints. METHODS: We reviewed the medical and photographic records of eight female patients diagnosed as having pectus excavatum, who underwent operation at a private hospital in the southern region of Brazil. These women sought consultation for local esthetic complaints and had no cardiorespiratory complaints. RESULTS: Six patients submitted only for breast prosthesis placement. One patient had a prosthesis implanted 15 years before, which was replaced by a new implant in the same plane. Another patient had undergone pectus repair with Nuss surgery 10 years before, and the patient came to the hospital with a complaint of hypomasty and asymmetry. The preferred anesthesia was general anesthesia in five of the cases. The prosthesis inclusion plane in almost all the cases was subglandular. Only one patient had a complication (seroma). CONCLUSIONS: In our sample, the placement of breast prostheses in the patients with pectus excavatum brought harmonic esthetic results, attenuating and/or masking the chest defect, with satisfactory esthetic results for the patients.