Straight Back Syndrome

Cameron D Wright

doi:10.1016/j.thorsurg.2017.01.006

Straight Back Syndrome

Thorac Surg Clin. 2017 May;27(2):133-137. doi: 10.1016/j.thorsurg.2017.01.006.

Author

Cameron D Wright¹

Affiliation

¹ Division of Thoracic Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA. Electronic address: cdwright@partners.org.

PMID: 28363367
DOI: 10.1016/j.thorsurg.2017.01.006

Abstract

Straight back syndrome is a rare condition usually associated with mitral valve prolapse and "pseudo-heart disease" caused by a very narrow anterior-posterior chest due to the loss of the normal dorsal curvature of the thoracic spine. More rarely, the narrowed upper chest may compress the trachea causing extrinsic tracheal obstruction. If severe enough, this requires operative repair by effectively opening up the upper chest by a variety of techniques to allow the trachea enough room to avoid compression.

Keywords: Chest wall deformity; Straight back syndrome; Tracheal obstruction.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Airway Obstruction / etiology*
Airway Obstruction / surgery
Humans
Manubrium / surgery*
Musculoskeletal Abnormalities / complications*
Musculoskeletal Abnormalities / diagnosis
Orthopedic Procedures / methods*
Syndrome
Thoracic Vertebrae / abnormalities*
Tracheal Stenosis / etiology*
Tracheal Stenosis / surgery