MEPS question about pectus excavatum

CPO Jon Campbell — Thu, 26 Feb 2015 13:52:18 -0500

Is pectus excavatum a condition that MEPS screens for? It is a condition that causes a dip in the center of the chest. (It used to be called Cobblers Chest) Doctors used to consider it a cosmetic thing, but it is now more often being corrected with surgery.

Response by CW5 Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 26 at 2015 8:15 PM

CW5 Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 26 Feb 2015 20:15:11 -0500

I found an answer to this question for the Army, CPO Jon Campbell, and I read that the standards for this sort of thing are essentially the same across the services. In the Army it's AR 40-501 (here's the link: http://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/pdf/r40_501.pdf), and here's what it says about pectus excavatum, in para 2-23, i.:

"Current chest wall malformation (754), including, but not limited to pectus excavatum (754.81), or pectus carinatum (754.82), if these conditions interfere with vigorous physical exertion, does not meet the standard."

The "out" seems to be that if the condition does not interfere with vigorous physical exertion, the individual should be good to go.

Response by PO2 Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 4 at 2019 2:45 PM

PO2 Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 04 Dec 2019 14:45:36 -0500

I have pectus excavatum, had surgery on it (pectus bar implant and removal) and I had medical paperwork on it and they looked at my chest and my paperwork when I first joined, I was cleared from it.