Pectus Excavatum Surgeons: How to Choose (12 We Verified)

Search for the best pectus excavatum surgeons and you’ll run into medical-travel directories with their own top-10 lists. One checked on 20 October 2026 says its ranking is built from its own patient reviews and hospital ratings. One of the doctors in its top list is a professor of pediatric gastroenterology.

None of the surgeons and centers below publishes results you could compare surgeon by surgeon, so an honest ranking isn’t possible. What I can give you is a clear rule, 12 surgeons and centers that passed it on 20 October 2026 (grouped by region), and a checklist for judging anyone else, including a surgeon near you.

I had pectus excavatum and corrected it without surgery. I’m not a doctor and I don’t rank surgeons. I do respect surgery. For many people it’s the right call.

How this list was made

A surgeon or center made this list only if both of these were true on 20 October 2026:

1. A current page from the hospital, the practice, the surgeon’s own site or a professional profile showed them treating pectus.
2. That page or the published record showed at least one of these: a pectus volume they state themselves, a peer-reviewed pectus paper from that surgeon or center, or a named chest wall or pectus program.

That’s a floor, not a ranking. Entries are grouped by region, United States first, and the order inside each region means nothing. The list isn’t complete either: a missing surgeon may not have been checked, or their page may not show what the rule asks for.

Every entry uses the same fields in the same order. Where an entry says “not stated”, it means not stated on the page checked. That doesn’t mean they don’t do it. It means ask.

Why the volumes don’t compare. Every volume on this page comes from the surgeon or center itself, and no two count the same thing. CHKD counts chest wall surgeries. Mayo’s figure is pectus operations, on one surgeon’s profile. Dr. Barry LoSasso’s is Nuss procedures only (the minimally invasive operation explained below). Cleveland Clinic’s figure is one surgeon’s career total. Phoenix Children’s figures are from 2021. A bigger number isn’t proof of a better surgeon. It does tell you a team does the operation often, which the guidelines below care about.

Prices, insurance and waiting times weren’t checked for this list, and none of the pages gives prices you could compare.

Disclosure. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Yüksel, who has an entry below, reviews this site’s medical content. mrpectus takes no referral fees or payments from any surgeon or clinic, and Prof. Yüksel’s reviewing is unpaid.

How to vet a pectus surgeon or center

The yardstick on this page is the 2024 UK Pectus Care Guidelines, written by UK surgical societies with the Marfan Foundation and the Chest Wall International Group. One more disclosure: Prof. Yüksel founded the Chest Wall International Group. A US or Turkish center won’t be organized around UK standards, but the logic carries.

The Nuss procedure is minimally invasive: through small cuts on each side of the chest, and guided by a camera, the surgeon places one or more curved steel bars under the breastbone to push it forward. The Ravitch procedure is open repair: a cut on the front of the chest, removal of the overgrown cartilage, and the breastbone brought forward and held in place.

Experience

• Frequent and regular. The guidelines say Nuss should be done by surgeons who perform it frequently and regularly, with heart and chest surgery experience and facilities to handle complications.
• No magic number. The guideline’s expert panel found no single caseload that defines a safe surgeon. It recommends at least two active surgeons in each program. Dr. Donald Nuss’s own advice of at least 20 operations a year is cited, not formally recommended.
• UK center standards. A UK center should do at least 20 pectus operations and assess at least 50 patients a year. It should offer Nuss, Ravitch, bracing and vacuum bell therapy, and be able to manage heart, lung and liver injury on site.
• Your age group. The UK standards want children treated at a center accredited for children’s pectus care, and some programs focus on one group, such as Mayo Clinic’s in Arizona on adults.

The workup before anyone decides

• A CT or MRI scan to measure the Haller index: the chest’s inside width divided by the distance from the back of the breastbone to the spine. A Haller index of 3.25 is a common threshold for a surgical referral, not an emergency.
• An echocardiogram, an ultrasound of the heart.
• Lung function tests.
• A CPET (cardiopulmonary exercise test, where your heart and breathing are measured while you exercise) if your chest is severe and you struggle with exercise.
• A psychologist’s assessment of how the chest affects you.

Consent, follow-up and tracking

The guidelines want the expected benefits, the risks based on published data and the full recovery plan written down before surgery. They also say exercise ability improves after surgery but does not return to normal for age and sex.

Follow-up should start within 6 weeks and is mandatory for as long as the bars are in. A Nuss bar shouldn’t stay in for life. Patients should be entered in a national registry, and results audited at least once a year.

Questions to ask at your consultation

Take these to every surgeon, including the ones on this page.

1. Your age group. How many pectus operations do you do a year, and how many on people my age?
2. The team. How many surgeons here do this operation regularly?
3. The operation. Do you recommend Nuss or Ravitch for me, and why?
4. The camera. Do you use a camera inside the chest while the bar goes in?
5. Lifting the breastbone. Do you lift the breastbone before passing the bar?
6. Complications. What complications have your patients had?
7. Tests. Which tests do you need before deciding?
8. Bars. How many bars do you expect to use, and how will you stop them moving?
9. Bar timing. How long will the bars stay in, and how does bar removal work?
10. Pain. What’s the pain plan? Do you offer cryoablation, which freezes the nerves under the ribs so that, for a while, numbness partly replaces the pain?
11. Rib flare and upper chest. Will the operation address rib flare or the upper chest, if I have them?
12. Follow-up. What follow-up do you need, and how does it work if I live far away?
13. Tracking. Do you enter patients in a registry or audit your results?
14. Alternatives. Do you offer a vacuum bell or bracing, and would either suit me?
15. Support. Is there a psychologist on the team? Can I talk to some of your past patients?

The UK standards expect a center to offer non-surgical options, so question 14 is a fair one to ask anywhere.

Pectus surgeons and centers in the United States

Surgeon or center	Where	Ages (as stated)	Stated volume (who states it, date)
Dr. Dawn Jaroszewski, Mayo Clinic	Phoenix, Arizona	Adult focus, no range stated	Over 1,200 pectus operations (Mayo, undated)
Nuss Center at CHKD	Norfolk, Virginia	Not stated	3,000+ chest wall surgeries (CHKD, undated)
Cleveland Clinic Pectus Excavatum Program	Ohio	Not stated	About 7,000 cases in Dr. Park’s career (Cleveland Clinic, June 2026)
Dr. Barry LoSasso, Center of Excellence for Pectus	Paramus, New Jersey	10 through adulthood	More than 1,500 Nuss procedures (own site, undated)
Cincinnati Children’s Chest Wall Center	Cincinnati, Ohio	Up to 25	Not stated
Phoenix Children’s Chest Wall Center	Phoenix, Arizona	No range stated	More than 700 Nuss operations, over 170 pectus excavatum operations a year (Phoenix Children’s, December 2021)

Mayo Clinic, Phoenix, Arizona: Dr. Dawn Jaroszewski

Dr. Jaroszewski chairs the Division of Thoracic Surgery at Mayo Clinic in Arizona and directs its chest wall and thoracic surgery program, which Mayo calls “the largest volume adult pectus treatment site in North America”.

• Where: Mayo Clinic, Phoenix, Arizona.
• Ages: adults are the focus, per Mayo. No range stated.
• Techniques: not stated.
• Stated volume: “over 1,200 pectus operations” (Mayo research profile, undated).
• Non-surgical options: not stated.
• Not verified: her techniques, and whether the program offers non-surgical care.
• Official page: Mayo Clinic research profile, checked 20 October 2026.

Nuss Center at CHKD, Norfolk, Virginia

Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters (CHKD) calls itself the home of the Nuss procedure and says its chest wall surgery count is “the most in North America”. The center treats pectus excavatum and pectus carinatum.

• Where: CHKD, Norfolk, Virginia.
• Ages: not stated.
• Techniques: the Nuss procedure.
• Stated volume: “3,000+ chest wall surgeries” (CHKD, undated).
• Non-surgical options: not listed on the center page, but surgeons at the same center published vacuum bell research in 2018 and again in 2025. Ask whether a bell is offered for you.
• Not verified: the ages treated, and how much of the total is pectus excavatum.
• Official page: CHKD Nuss Center, checked 20 October 2026.

Cleveland Clinic Pectus Excavatum Program, Ohio: Dr. John DiFiore and Dr. Hyung Joo Park

Dr. John DiFiore directs the program. Dr. Hyung Joo Park joined in 2025. Cleveland Clinic credits him with nearly 40 innovations and more than 100 peer-reviewed papers.

• Where: Cleveland Clinic, Ohio.
• Ages: not stated.
• Techniques: NeoPectus techniques, which the article says came to the US in 2023.
• Stated volume: about 7,000 cases in Dr. Park’s career (Cleveland Clinic, 19 June 2026). No program total.
• Non-surgical options: not stated.
• Not verified: the program’s own volume, and what NeoPectus involves.
• Official page: Cleveland Clinic’s June 2026 article on the program, checked 20 October 2026.

Center of Excellence for Pectus, Paramus, New Jersey: Dr. Barry LoSasso

His own site says Dr. LoSasso trained directly with Dr. Donald Nuss and has treated children, teenagers and adults since 1999.

• Where: Center of Excellence for Pectus, Paramus, New Jersey.
• Ages: 10 through adulthood.
• Techniques: the Nuss procedure.
• Stated volume: “Over 1,500 Nuss Procedures performed” (own site, undated).
• Non-surgical options: not stated.
• Not verified: the volume beyond his own site, and which hospital he operates at.
• Official page: Center of Excellence for Pectus, checked 20 October 2026.

Cincinnati Children’s Chest Wall Center, Ohio

Its page lists surgery, non-surgical care and a psychologist in one program, which covers several points on the checklist above.

• Where: Cincinnati Children’s, Cincinnati, Ohio.
• Ages: up to 25.
• Techniques: minimally invasive repair, including Nuss. Bracing for pectus carinatum.
• Stated volume: not stated.
• Non-surgical options: a vacuum bell therapy program.
• Not verified: volume, and which surgeon you would see.
• Official page: Cincinnati Children’s Chest Wall Center, checked 20 October 2026.

Phoenix Children’s Chest Wall Center, Arizona

The figures come from a Phoenix Children’s article dated 30 December 2021, so they’re nearly five years old. It describes a team of eight surgeons.

• Where: Phoenix Children’s, Phoenix, Arizona.
• Ages: no range stated. It’s a children’s hospital, and the article describes one patient who was 21 when he needed surgery.
• Techniques: the Nuss procedure, with the breastbone lifted before the bar goes in, and cryoablation for pain.
• Stated volume: more than 700 Nuss operations, and more than 170 pectus excavatum operations a year (both as of December 2021).
• Non-surgical options: not stated.
• Not verified: current figures.
• Official page: Phoenix Children’s article on its Chest Wall Center, checked 20 October 2026.

Pectus surgeons and centers in Europe and Turkey

None of these six pages states an age range or a current volume, so this table shows what they do state.

Surgeon	Where	Techniques (as stated)	Listed because
Shyamsunder (Shyam) Kolvekar	London, UK	Minimally invasive (Nuss) correction	Co-author of the 2024 UK guidelines
Dr. Ronald Lützenberg	Ostercappeln, Germany	Not stated	Named pectus clinic
Dr. Onur Tarhan	Germany	Nuss combined with his own technique	2018 pectus carinatum paper
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Anton Schwabegger	Innsbruck, Austria	Not stated	21 pectus papers on PubMed
Dr. Laureano Molins López-Rodó	Spain	Pectus Up	Named pectus program (Pectus Up)
Prof. Dr. Mustafa Yüksel	Istanbul, Turkey	Nuss, Ravitch, Abramson, sandwich	Named pectus unit

London, UK: Shyamsunder (Shyam) Kolvekar

Kolvekar co-authored the 2024 UK Pectus Care Guidelines from the National Pectus Centre at St Bartholomew’s Hospital. A doctor directory also lists him at the Harley Street Clinic, Barts Heart Centre, the Royal Free private patients unit and the Wellington.

• Where: London, UK.
• Ages: not stated.
• Techniques: minimally invasive pectus correction (Nuss), per the directory.
• Stated volume and non-surgical options: not stated.
• Not verified: a current hospital page beyond the directory.
• Official page: Top Doctors directory profile (a directory, not a hospital page), checked 20 October 2026.

Pectus Klinik, Ostercappeln, Germany: Dr. Ronald Lützenberg

Dr. Ronald Lützenberg (also written Luetzenberg) is chief physician of reconstructive surgery and the Pectus Klinik at Krankenhaus St. Raphael Ostercappeln, part of the Niels-Stensen-Kliniken. The hospital’s German page lists Trichterbrust (pectus excavatum) and Kielbrust (pectus carinatum), which helps if you search in German.

• Where: Krankenhaus St. Raphael, Ostercappeln, Germany.
• Ages, techniques, stated volume and non-surgical options: not stated.
• Not verified: the operation counts quoted on patient forums. The hospital page doesn’t give one.
• Official page: Niels-Stensen-Kliniken, Rekonstruktive Chirurgie / Pectus Klinik, checked 20 October 2026.

Germany: Dr. Onur Tarhan

His own site describes Dr. Tarhan as a trauma surgeon and orthopedist who specializes in pectus excavatum and pectus carinatum operations. He co-authored a 2018 paper on combined correction of pectus carinatum and other asymmetric chest wall deformities.

• Where: Germany. His site’s contact is the thoracic surgery department at SANA Klinikum Offenbach.
• Ages: not stated.
• Techniques: the Nuss technique combined with his own technique.
• Stated volume and non-surgical options: not stated.
• Not verified: where he operates now. The site gives a contact address, not an operating hospital.
• Official page: Dr. Onur Tarhan’s site, checked 20 October 2026.

Medicent, Innsbruck, Austria: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Anton Schwabegger

His practice page lists pectus excavatum, pectus carinatum and rib deformities among his areas. A PubMed author search on 20 October 2026 returns 21 pectus papers under his name.

• Where: Medicent, Innsbruck, Austria.
• Ages, techniques, stated volume and non-surgical options: not stated.
• Not verified: anything beyond the areas his page lists.
• Official page: Medicent profile, checked 20 October 2026.

Pectus Up, Spain: Dr. Laureano Molins López-Rodó

The Pectus Up team page lists Dr. Molins as head of a thoracic surgery service, trained at Mayo Clinic and Harvard hospitals. His technique is Pectus Up, not Nuss. My guide to Pectus Up surgery explains how it differs.

• Where: Spain.
• Ages: not stated.
• Techniques: Pectus Up.
• Stated volume and non-surgical options: not stated.
• Not verified: which hospital he operates at. The page is undated.
• Official page: Pectus Up team profile, checked 20 October 2026.

PektusKlinik, Istanbul, Turkey: Prof. Dr. Mustafa Yüksel

A disclosure first. Prof. Yüksel reviews this site’s medical content. He didn’t review this entry. It was written from his clinic’s public page, the same way as every other entry.

He founded the clinic’s pectus diagnosis and treatment unit in 2019, and he is the founder and a former president of the Chest Wall International Group.

• Where: PektusKlinik, Istanbul, Turkey.
• Ages: not stated.
• Techniques: Nuss, Ravitch, Abramson and sandwich techniques, as the clinic names them.
• Stated volume: not stated. The only figure found elsewhere is older and undated, so it’s left out.
• Non-surgical options: the clinic says it offers non-surgical treatment too.
• Not verified: a current, dated volume.
• Official page: PektusKlinik, checked 20 October 2026.

Names you may see elsewhere

Other lists still name these surgeons. Here’s why they aren’t on this one.

• Dr. Hans Pilegaard. The clinic that listed him no longer has a profile or a pectus page for him. His 2016 series covered 1,713 patients at Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark, from 2001 to 2016, all operated on by the same surgeon.
• Prof. Klaus Schaarschmidt. He stepped down as chief of pediatric surgery at Helios Klinikum Berlin-Buch in February 2020. No current page was found.
• Prof. Horia Sirbu. He co-authored a 2024 paper on minimally invasive repair and quality of life. Directory listings place him as head of thoracic surgery at Universitätsklinikum Erlangen, but no hospital or profile page showing his pectus work was opened for this check, so he doesn’t meet the first part of the rule.

For surgeons near you, the patient foundation behind pectus.com keeps a surgeon directory. Run anyone you find there through the checklist above.

Referrals, second opinions and travelling for surgery

Getting a referral. Ask your family doctor or your child’s pediatrician for a referral to a pediatric or thoracic surgeon who treats chest wall conditions. If you’re not sure your chest needs a surgeon at all, my guide to what pectus excavatum is covers severity and the red flags that mean see a doctor first.

Second opinions. You don’t always have to travel for one. Cincinnati Children’s offers them online, and other centers may too.

What to send. Send only what the clinic asks for, through the contact route on its own official page. If you already have a CT or MRI report, ask whether they want it.

Travelling. Follow-up is mandatory for as long as the bars are in, and the bars come out later. Before you book surgery far from home, ask who does your follow-up, who checks the bars between visits, and where they’ll be removed. For costs, see my Nuss procedure cost guide.

Where to start, by situation:

• A child or teenager: a children’s hospital program such as Cincinnati Children’s (up to 25) or Phoenix Children’s. In the UK, a center accredited for children’s pectus care.
• An adult: a program that states adult experience, such as Mayo Clinic in Arizona, or Dr. LoSasso (10 through adulthood).
• Nobody on this list near you: use the directory and the questions above on a local surgeon, or ask a center for a remote second opinion.

Before you book: do you need surgery?

The 2024 UK guidelines are plain about this: “For the majority of patients, supportive care is sufficient.”

That isn’t an argument against surgery. If your chest is severe, or your heart and lungs are affected, surgery may well be the right call, and choosing it isn’t a failure.

The same guidelines call the vacuum bell “a safe conservative treatment” and say it works better in milder chests and younger patients, with regular professional support and an early specialist assessment. I explain how the bell works in my guide to vacuum bell therapy.

That’s the route I took. I was diagnosed at 15 and corrected my chest without surgery over about three years. The change was visible and measurable, but not complete. You should also know that I sell non-surgical equipment, programs and coaching, so I have a stake in this part of the page. My approach to correcting pectus excavatum without surgery is laid out separately.

If you’re not sure which side of that line you’re on, my free 1-minute pectus quiz is a place to start. It doesn’t replace a surgeon’s assessment. And if you’ve already decided on surgery, my pre-surgery program covers the weeks before the operation.

Sources

1. Dunning J, et al. Pectus Care Guidelines. Eur J Cardiothorac Surg. 2024;66(1):ezae166. [cited 2026 Oct 20]. Read it
2. Mayo Clinic. Dawn E. Jaroszewski, M.D., research profile. [cited 2026 Oct 20]. Read it
3. Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters. Nuss Center. [cited 2026 Oct 20]. Read it
4. Aughtman S, et al. J Pediatr Surg. 2025;60(3):162020. [cited 2026 Oct 20]. Read it
5. Cleveland Clinic. Pectus surgery requires full restoration, not cosmetic correction. 2026 Jun 19. [cited 2026 Oct 20]. Read it
6. Center of Excellence for Pectus. Dr. Barry LoSasso. [cited 2026 Oct 20]. Read it
7. Cincinnati Children’s. Chest Wall Center. [cited 2026 Oct 20]. Read it
8. Phoenix Children’s. One of the top centers for treating chest deformities in North America is right here. 2021 Dec 30. [cited 2026 Oct 20]. Read it
9. Top Doctors UK. Shyamsunder Kolvekar, directory profile. [cited 2026 Oct 20]. Read it
10. Niels-Stensen-Kliniken. Krankenhaus St. Raphael Ostercappeln, Rekonstruktive Chirurgie / Pectus Klinik. [cited 2026 Oct 20]. Read it
11. Dr. Onur Tarhan. Trichterbrust und Kielbrust. [cited 2026 Oct 20]. Read it
12. Tarhan T, Meurer A, Tarhan O. Combined extra-/intrathoracic correction of pectus carinatum and other asymmetric chest wall deformities. Oper Orthop Traumatol. 2018. [cited 2026 Oct 20]. Read it
13. Medicent Innsbruck. A. Univ.-Prof. Dr. Anton Schwabegger. [cited 2026 Oct 20]. Read it
14. Pectus Up. Dr. Laureano Molins López-Rodó. [cited 2026 Oct 20]. Read it
15. PektusKlinik. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Yüksel Pektus Tanı & Tedavi Birimi. [cited 2026 Oct 20]. Read it
16. Pilegaard HK. Ann Cardiothorac Surg. 2016;5(5):450-455. [cited 2026 Oct 20]. Read it
17. Higaze M, et al. Minimally Invasive Repair of Pectus Excavatum: A Lifeline to Quality of Life. J Clin Med. 2024. [cited 2026 Oct 20]. Read it
18. pectus.com. Surgeon directory. [cited 2026 Oct 20]. Read it