Primary repair of a sternal cleft in an infant with autogenous tissues

Abstract

A cleft sternum is a rare congenital anomaly often diagnosed as asymptomatic at birth. Clinical outcome may be unfavorable when an associated anomaly, particularly an intracardiac anomaly coexists with the defect. Primary repair should be employed in the neonatal period because the flexibility of the chest wall is maximal and compression of underlying structures is minimal. However, patients with sternal cleft may even present late in the childhood or adolescence period. We herein report a case of a 4-year-old girl with sternal cleft who showed a favorable clinical outcome following successful primary surgical repair with the use of autogenous tissues. © 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.