 Case reportIntra-abdominal pectus bar migration – a rare clinical entity: case reportRamon Tahmassebi1  , Hutan Ashrafian2  , Caner Salih1 , Ranjit P Deshpande1 , Thanos Athanasiou2 and Julian E Dussek1 1Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Guy's Hospital, St Thomas Street, London, SE1 9RT, UK 2Department Biosurgery and Surgical Technology, Imperial College London, St Mary's Hospital, London, W2 1NY, UK  author email corresponding author email
Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery 2008,
3:39doi:10.1186/1749-8090-3-39 Abstract
We present the case of a 20-year-old male who underwent successful surgical correction of pectus excavatum with the Highly Modified Ravitch Repair (HMRR). At 29 months the attempted operative removal of the Ravitch bar was unsuccessful despite the impression of adequate bar location on chest x-ray. Subsequent imaging with computed tomography was unclear in determining whether the bar was supra or infra-diaphragmatic due to the tissue distortion subsequent to initial surgery. Video assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) successfully retrieved the bar and revealed that it was not in the thorax, but had migrated to the intra-abdominal bare area of the liver, with no evidence of associated diaphragmatic defect or hernia. Intra-abdominal pectus bar migration is a rare clinical entity, and safe removal can be facilitated by the use of the VATS technique. | 
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