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Johns Hopkins Children's Center

Pediatric Surgery

The Center for Chest Wall Deformities

The Center for Chest Wall Deformities at Johns Hopkins Children's Center is one of the longest-running programs and most experienced pediatric surgical teams in the country. Our team specializes in treatment of chest wall deformities in young children, adolescents and young adults, supporting them before, during and after correction.

On this page:

Our Team | Our Research | Our History

Chest Wall Deformity Treatment at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center

The two most common types of chest wall deformities are pectus excavatum and pectus carinatum. 

Learn more about how we treat these conditions.

Our Team

Our highly specialized team is composed of pediatric surgeons, pediatric anesthesiologists, pediatric nurse practitioners, pediatric radiologists and a dedicated post-surgery nursing team. 

Surgeons

  • Samuel Alaish, MD

    • Surgical Director, The Hopkins Resource for Intestinal Vitality and Enhancement (THRIVE)

    Expertise: Pediatric General Surgery

  • Clint Cappiello, MD

    • Director, Pediatric Surgery Residency Education

    Expertise: Pediatric General Surgery

  • Alejandro Vera Garcia, MD

    • Director, Pediatric Burn Program

    Expertise: Pediatric General Surgery

  • Shaun Michael Kunisaki, MD MSC

    • Robert and Jane Meyerhoff Professor

    Expertise: Pediatric General Surgery

  • Isam Nasr, MD

    • Director of Pediatric Trauma Program, Division of Pediatric Surgery

    Expertise: Pediatric General Surgery

  • Daniel S. Rhee, MD MPH

    • Director, Pediatric Surgical Oncology Program

    Expertise: Pediatric General Surgery

  • Mark Slidell, MD MPH

    • Associate Chief, Health Services Research and Clinical Integration, General Pediatric Surgery

    Expertise: Pediatric General Surgery

Contact Us

Kristin Wharton, CPNP AC/PC 

Please reach out to our dedicated pediatric nurse practitioner, Kristin Wharton, for any questions related to our program.

Email Kristin

Kristin Wharton

Our Research on Chest Wall Deformities

Our clinical experts are also leaders in discovery, contributing to groundbreaking research highlighted by the examples below. 

Our History

Johns Hopkins was once the home of Mark Ravitch, who perfected the original open repair of pectus excavatum that bears his name. Johns Hopkins Children's Center was also the home of Alex Haller. In 1987, he introduced a radiographically defined pectus excavatum severity score using CT scans or MRIs [reference below]. This score is now referred to as the Haller index, and is used worldwide to evaluate pectus patients. A Haller index score greater than 3.25 is consistent with a severe pectus deformity.

Paul Colombani continued the long tradition of chest wall reconstruction expertise at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, and modified the minimally invasive repair of pectus excavatum known as the Nuss procedure. The modifications allowed for improved safety during the procedure and achieved greater stability of the bar. The modified Nuss procedure at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center has allowed for decreased complications and excellent clinical results.

Haller JA Jr, Kramer SS, Lietman SA. Use of CT scans in selection of patients for pectus excavatum surgery: a preliminary report. J Pediatr Surg. 1987 Oct;22(10):904-6. doi: 10.1016/s0022-3468(87)80585-7. PMID: 3681619.