Treatment of aortic coarctation

: 244 cases of coarctation of the aorta were treated surgically from 1953 to 1988. The age of the patients ranged from 3 days to 59 years with an average of 11.2 years. The average age of the patients decreased progressively over the years. 22% of the patients (54 patients) were less than one year old at the time of the operation. The percentage of infants presenting with decompensation and associated cardiac malformation increased progressively over the years. A total of 40 out of 54 patients belong to this group. The surgical procedure--resection and shunt--was a standard one in 89% of all cases. A prosthesis was required in 4.5% of all cases, and a widening patch in another 5.3%. An unusual technique had to be used in 1.7% of cases. The surgical mortality was of 12 patients (4.9%), all belonging to the infant group (3 days to 13 months old). No mortality was observed among older patients, nor among the elective surgical cases. 9 patients were treated for recurrence of coarctation. No case of paraplegia was noted in this series.