Pectus excavatum

Pectus excavatum - often called "funnel chest" - is a deformity of your child's chest wall where there's a depression in the breastbone.

• occurs in approximately 1 out of 500 children
• can cause breathing problems

When is the best time to do the surgery for funnel chest?

Twenty-five years ago, surgeons operated when the child was as young as 4. The cartilage content of the bones made repositioning easier and healing was faster. But too often, the condition would recur, especially during growth spurts.

So surgeons at Children's Hospital Boston's Department of Surgery surgeons prefer to operate, if they operate at all, during the child's teen years. By then, they're through most of their growth spurts so recurrence isn't as much of a problem.