Pectus excavatum is a rare congenital deformation of the chest wall. Associated clinical signs depend on the severity of the deformity of the sternum and costochondral cartilages. After thoracic radiographic studies, a patient‐specific plastic external splint was designed based on a previously made plaster cast of the chest of the kitten. The splint was designed using 3D scan equipment and data processing to obtain the computer‐aided model that was then used to manufacture the splint using 3D printing technology. The surgical application of the customized 3D‐printed external splint for the correction of severe pectus excavatum in the young kitten was successful, with excellent tolerance observed postoperatively. After a period of 2 weeks, the splint was removed. Marked improvement of the sternum position was observed, and, more importantly, improvement in dyspnea and exercise intolerance was evident.
Reis et al. (Thu,) studied this question.