The sternum bone consists of two vertical leaves while in the womb. While in the mother's womb, these leaves combine to become a single bone. However, since this union does not occur in cleft cases, the heart and internal organs remain unprotected and cause a bad appearance. Sometimes there may be no skin integrity along with the bone. In this case, the heart may be beating outside the patient.
Sternal cleft treatment is surgically bringing the bones end to end and suturing them together in this way as soon as possible. Thus, fusion is achieved at an early age, and bone integrity is ensured before the heart and internal organs grow and become compressed. In the future, after the bone is fused, it grows and develops as in a normal individual and provides room for the internal organs to grow.
However, in case of delay, the bones may not come together as the internal organs grow and develop. For this reason, it may be necessary to put parts taken from different bones of the patient or synthetic materials.
