Poland Syndrome

This condition was first described by Sir Alfred Poland (Picture 1) in 1841. Poland syndrome is congenital chest deformity  characterized by a agenesis of the pectoral major muscle, hypoplasia or agenesis of the pectoral minor muscle,  hypoplasia or agenesis of the breast,   webbing of the fingers (cutaneous syndactyly, brachydactyly, brakysyndactyly) of the hand on one side of the body (Picture 2-3).

The incidence is estimated to range from one in 30,000 to one in 32,000 births. The cause of Poland syndrome is unknown Poland syndrome is a unique pattern of one-sided malformations that are present at birth. Apart from instances where there is agenesis of the rib or the cartilage causing paradox respiration, Poland syndrome is considered as an esthetic case. In this situation breast implantation are used. In cases where the ribs are involved the grafts prepared from the patient’s own ribs are used to reconstruct the chest cavity. Patients with Poland syndrome perfume their physical activities without any restrictions. The main reason for Hospital admittance is based on physical looks.