title: Percutaneous interventions on severe coarctation of the aorta: a 21-year experience.
abstract: Different percutaneous interventions can be used to treat coarctation of the aorta. However, a great amount of information is still needed regarding the long-term course. This article reviews our experience spanning 21 years in the percutaneous treatment of aortic coarctation. Four different conditions for treatment were considered. The first condition 1 (group 1) was balloon angioplasty in neonates and infants with untractable heart failure (n = 54; mean age, 1.2 +/- 1.4 months). After balloon angioplasty, most infants sustained significant clinical improvement. However, 9 patients died in the hospital (17%). As a result, we monitored the course of the 45 survivors during a mean period of 10 +/- 6 years (range, 1-19). During this follow-up period, 17 patients needed a single additional intervention on coarctation (8 underwent surgery and 9 were treated percutaneously). After this second treatment, 11 patients needed one or more further interventions. The actuarial survival probability was 83% at 19 years, with 43% of patients remaining surgery free and 23% reintervention free. The second condition (group 2) was balloon angioplasty in children and adults with coarctation of the aorta before the stenting era (n = 28; mean age, 13 +/- 8 years). After treatment, serial hemodynamic and angiographic studies were performed. The long-term relief was higher in patients with a discrete type of coarctation. The rate of late aneurysm formation was 6%. The third condition (group 3) was stent palliation in infants and children younger than the age of 6 years (n = 17; mean age, 2.1 +/- 1.7 years). The stent was implanted for nondilatable stenoses, as a nondefinitive procedure. Stent palliation provides complete initial relief in hypoplastic coarctations or life-threatening conditions. However, further stent expansion is required to ensure adequate stent diameter in the growing aortic wall. In addition, late intrastent proliferation may occur in small stent diameters (18%) and aneurysm formation in hypoplastic coarctations (18%). Both late complications can be managed percutaneously. The fourth condition (group 4) was stent repair of severe aortic coarctation in adults, adolescents, and children older than the age of 6 years (n = 73; mean age, 20 +/- 12 years). Significant relief was observed after treatment, which persisted at follow-up. One patient died at treatment (1.3%). After a mean follow-up of 5 +/- 3 years, all 72 patients remained symptom free and no restenosis or late aneurysm were detected.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, University Hospital, Reina Sofia, Avda. Menéndez Pidal 1 14004, Córdoba, Spain. grupo_corpal@arrakis.es
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Suárez de Lezo
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Romero
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Segura
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Pavlovic
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ojeda
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Algar
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ribes
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lafuente
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lopez-Pujol
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000800:Angioplasty, Balloon; D001017:Aortic Coarctation / Q000628:therapy*; D019917:Blood Vessel Prosthesis Implantation; D006328:Cardiac Catheterization; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015607:Stents; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome