What are the symptoms related to pectus excavatum and pectus carinatum?
The symptomotology of this defect many times is not really apparent until the child participates in athletic or high stress activities. As children, the individuals are shy and many times will not participate where their chest is exposed such as in swimming or athletic events. As the child progresses in age, the symptoms, easily fatiguability and decreased stamina and endurance become apparent especially during competitive athletics. Also, adults in their twenty and thirty year age group and elderly adults, become very aware of this problem. If they have not participated in physical activities during high school, newer fitness programs bring out the easy fatiguability and cardiac arrhythmias and tachycardias during these extensive physical and strenuous exercises. The moderately to very severe defects, where the heart is displaced to the left of the sternum or the midline, places undue pressure on the lung artery or pulmonary artery which carries blood from the heart to the lungs. This
