Pediatr. praxi. 2023;24(1):49-52 | DOI: 10.36290/ped.2023.020

Coarctation of the aorta - still a risky and late identified defect?

MUDr. Mária Najdeková¹, MUDr. Michaela Galková¹, MUDr. Simona Vezérová¹, MUDr. Alexandra Molnárová², MUDr. Tomáš Gruszka^{1, 3}, doc. MUDr. Jan Pavlíček, Ph.D.^{1, 3, 4}

¹ Klinika dětského lékařství, Fakultní nemocnice Ostrava

² Oddělení dětského lékařství, Městská nemocnice Ostrava

³ Lékařská fakulta, Ostravská univerzita, Ostrava

⁴ Centrum biomedicínského výzkumu, Fakultní nemocnice Hradec Králové

Coarctation of the aorta is a significant congenital heart defect with a clinical manifestation at any time during childhood or even in adulthood. Warning or diagnostic signs include arterial hypertension, diminished femoral pulses, an arm-leg blood pressure gradient, a systolic murmur in the interscapular area and in case of a critical defect a clinical presentation of heart failure. Despite a relative simplicity of clinical diagnosis to prompt suspicion of this defect, a significant number of patients escape diagnosis until adolescence or adulthood. Coarctation of the aorta has a good prognosis. However if it is diagnosed in older age or in the presence of atypical morphology a standard operating procedure with resection and end-to-end anastomosis may not be successful and thus a more extensive procedure has to be performed. This could lead to future non-physiological circulation and more significant residues.

Keywords: coarctation of the aorta, hypertension, murmur, echocardiography.

Accepted: February 7, 2023; Published: February 20, 2023  Show citation