Fracture of Sternum Wires

My son has Tuberous Sclerosis and had open heart surgery for resection of a giant rhabdomyoma on his left ventricle when he was 5 days old.  He is now almost 5 years old and doing well.  He was previously told that he had no restrictions.  He would like to play tackle football and hockey. At our last Cardiology appointment, we were told this was not recommended.  Not due to a concern regarding his heart function, but due to a possibility of the sternotomy wires fracturing and casuing pain or requiring surgery to fix this.  How likely is this to happen?  What symptoms, other than just pain, would he experience?

[grendslori]

Hello and welcome to our site. I am not sure how to answer your question bout the sports. Usually children with severe heart disease are restricted from sports as well as children with pacemakers implanted due to the possibility of the wires being broken. My daughter had surgical wires (sternum) and her restrictions were placed due to her actual heart disease. No one ever mentioned anything about those wires being broken; not until she had a pacemaker implanted a year later. Talk to your son's doctors again, maybe they may reconsider.