HCM CITY – The number of children in the city suffering from a condition where the chest appears sunken has increased unusually, doctors from Paediatrics Hospital No 1 said.

The deformity can reportedly lead to heart diseases.

This is a congenital problem, few know about it, according to the doctors.

Đào Trung Hiếu, deputy director of the hospital, said on average, the hospital received and treated about 50 children suffering from the deformity per year.

Since the beginning of this year, 80 children had been hospitalised for the problem.

Currently, two siblings from the southern Bến Tre Province are being treated at the hospital after undergoing successful surgery. One of them is 15 years old and the other is nine.

More children were hospitalised in summer.

"The condition develops when the bone system develops", Hiếu said.

The ribs develop unusually and so the chest appears sunken. As a result, the children breathe with difficulty because their lungs are blocked. Some serious cases can lead to heart diseases.

Surgery is the only treatment for the condition.

But only children between the ages of seven and 15 can undergo surgery because their bone system’s development is more or less complete by then.

Children having the condition should swim to improve their breath.

International research does not define the causes of the condition, Vietnam News Agency reports.

A research in the United States showed that one in every 300-400 children could develop the problem.

It is difficult to detect the condition in newborn babies. The condition could develop when the child is one or two years old. – VNS