AORTIC COARCTATION IN INFANTS AND CHILDREN - DIAGNOSE, TREATMENT AND PROGNOSIS

Coarctation of the aorta is a congenital heart defect involving a narrowing of the descending aorta. Blood pressure is higher before the narrowing and lower past the narrowing, with 20 mmHg difference between upper and lower limbs, clinically expressed by absent femoral pulses. In infants, coarctation of the aorta is severe and represent a cardiological emergency, but in child, aortic coarctation is sometime under-diagnosed, patients presenting at the hospital for high blood pressure of unknown etiology, or complaining of headache, or lower limb pain in effort. We want to highlight aortic coarctation as a cause of high blood pressure in children and to drawn attention that this kind of patients, even after aortic coarctation repair may remain with hypertension that has to be treated and patients followed up. We want to share our experience with some cases of surgical correction of aortic coarctation and complications such as recoarctation in special type of gothic aortic arch and also, recoarctation after stent implanting.