a three day old neonate was referred to our department with a problem of a sternal cleft. sternal clefts are often associated with a myriad of other abnormalities ranging from mild to severe. we present our experience with such a problem, and review the current literature concerning it.

Total or partial fissure in the middle of the sternum (cleft sternum or fissura sterni congenita) is a rare congenital anomaly. Absence of skeleton in the front part of the chest wall gives rise to a severely paradoxical movement of this part of the thorax (Figs 1 and 2). Moreover, the pulsations of the heart and large vessels are clearly visible because they are covered only by soft tissues. T...

Total bifid sternum with or without ectopia cordis is a rare congenital anomaly which is treated successfully in a limited number of cases. Several methods of correction have been described using tissue grafts (cartilage, bone), inert artificial prostheses (acrylic plaques, marlex mesh), and techniques to approximate the sternal bands by relaxation of costal cartilages. In our case the method d...

Bifid sternum is a rare fusion anomaly of the chest wall that accounts for 0.15% of all chest deformities and may be associated with cardiac or vascular anomalies. It is usually diagnosed and surgically corrected at birth or within the first month of life. Being a diagnosis made during the neonatal period, computed tomography scan and magnetic resonance imaging are not often performed; not so m...

The xiphoid process is a small bony feature of the anterior thoracic wall just inferior to the sternum corpus. Although the xiphoid process is commonly represented as a straight, fully ossified bone in educational textbooks, reports of anomalous processes flood the literature. The xiphoid process can be broad, thin, monofid, bifid, trifid, curved, or deflected and contain foramina. Variations c...

A cleft sternum is a rare congenital anomaly often diagnosed as asymptomatic at birth. Clinical outcome may be unfavorable when an associated anomaly, particularly an intracardiac anomaly coexists with the defect. Primary repair should be employed in the neonatal period because the flexibility of the chest wall is maximal and compression of underlying structures is minimal. However, patients wi...