Pectoralis major muscle rupture: more than 440 cases already reported. A review of the recent literature

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Recent papers present pectoralis major muscle rupture as a rare injury with about 200 reported cases in the literature. In the last years, we were able to find many references to pectoralis major muscle rupture in the literature. To determine the real number and occurence of published cases. A review of the recent literature published between January 2000 and December 2010 was performed. We used the PubMed and Google Scholar search and applied the keywords: pectoralis major muscle rupture. The search strategy was also complemented by looking at the reference lists of the papers retrieved. A review of the recent literature succeeded in identifying 283 published cases on pectoralis major muscle rupture since the year 2000. Previous reviews and our search identified about 163 cases prior to the year 2000 for a total, including our case, of 447 cases of pectoralis major rupture reported in the world literature since its initial description by Patissier in 1822. Until recently, about 200 cases of the pectoralis major muscle rupture reported in the literature were underevaluated. This previously rare injury has thus become more common and reflects contemporary lifestyle and the more frequent athletic, strenuous, and weightlifting activities of the population. Awareness of the possibility of this injury is therefore important, because patients with pectoralis major rupture may be initially misdiagnosed.