Three-dimensional chest computed tomography analysis of thoracic deformities in patients with microtia

SummaryObjectiveThe objective of this study was to identify the incidence and characteristics of congenital thoracic deformities in patients with microtia and to investigate the interaction between microtia and thoracic deformities.MethodsA total of 239 consecutive patients received a preoperative three-dimensional chest computed tomography (3-D chest CT). A retrospective study was performed with the clinical and imaging data from March 2013 to December 2013. Pearson χ2 test and Spearman analysis were used to analyze the interaction between microtia and thoracic deformities.ResultsWith the 3-D chest CT images, a total of 68 cases (28.5%) were documented with thoracic deformities including 60 cases (25.1%) with rib anomalies, 20 cases (8.4%) with spinal deformities, and 12 cases (5.0%) with both rib anomalies and spinal deformities. The incidence of rib anomalies (P = 0.049) and spinal deformities (P = 0.000) varied with grades of microtia. The incidence of rib anomalies was slightly positively correlated with the incidence of spinal deformities in patients with microtia (r = 0.243).ConclusionsThe incidence of congenital thoracic deformities was high in patients with microtia. We observed a higher incidence of thoracic deformities in patients with a more serious grade of microtia. Microtia with thoracic deformities may involve a new syndrome previously undiscovered or just another extension with the very wide spectrum of microtia.