Straight Back Syndrome.

Skeletal deformities of the thorax are known to produce functional disturbances of the cardiovascular system. Most of these deformities are usually benign, the only manifestation being a functional prmcordial murmur. As many of these murmurs are loud, they are often detected during a routine clinical examination for symptoms not of cardiac origin, and an erroneous diagnosis of heart disease may be made. One of these skeletal deformities, the straight back syndrome, may also masquerade as heart disease. The incidence of this deformity in the general population is not known. However, it is not a rare condition, as within a period of nine months we have seen 6 patients with this condition at the K.E.M. Hospital, Bombay. In the straight back syndrome, the anterior concavity of the vertebral column in the upper dorsal region is absent. This reduces the antero-posterior diameter of the thorax and thereby the heart and great vessels are compressed between the spine posteriorly and the sternum anteriorly (Rawlings, 1960).