Postoperative growth of the left subclavian artery in a case after a modified Blalock-Park procedure.
Various kinds of operations for coarcation of the aorta in infancy are life saving, but they still carry a high operative mortality rate and are followed frequently by residual or recurrent coarctation. Fifteen years ago we performed a modified Blalock-Park procedure on a 12 month old male infant with preductal coarctation, a large VSD and PDA. Recently a follow-up study was performed on this patient. Aortography revealed a normally developed aortic arch without any sign of stenosis. The intraaortic pressure tracings revealed no pressure gradient through the aortic arch and thoracic aorta. These findings suggest that this procedure is recommendable for the treatment of infants with severely hypoplastic aortic isthmus.
D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D001017:Aortic Coarctation / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D011859:Radiography; D013348:Subclavian Artery / Q000254:growth & development*