Center for Thoracic Insufficiency Syndrome
Thoracic insufficiency syndrome (TIS) is a complex condition involving chest wall deformities that affect normal breathing and lung growth. Children with TIS are born with a variety of genetic disorders that cause spine and rib cage differences. These congenital deformities can limit a child’s respiration to such an extent that they become ventilator dependent.
The Center for Thoracic Insufficiency Syndrome at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) provides the highest level of multispecialty medical and surgical care in the world for children with thoracic insufficiency syndrome. The center is dedicated to improving care, advancing research and developing long-term treatments for children with TIS. The center’s director invented the vertical expandable prosthetic titanium rib (VEPTR), the only FDA-approved device to treat TIS, and performs more than 200 VEPTR and other growth-sparing surgeries a year.
Center staff include orthopaedic surgeons and a coordinated team of other specialists from general surgery, pulmonology, intensive care, bioengineering and radiology. The program’s multidisciplinary approach ensures excellent patient care and promotes the development of improved medical and surgical treatments for TIS.
