Abstract

Classic techniques for repairing coarctation of the aorta, especially in neonates, have a significant incidence of recurrent obstruction. By connecting the descending aorta to the proximal aortic arch, the end-to-side aortic anastomosis isolates hypoplastic distal arch and encroaching ductal tissue from the anastomotic site.Follow-up data were available for 88 patients (54 male) who underwent an end-to-side aortic anastomosis from November 1992 until November 1999. The median postoperative follow-up was 1.9 years (range, 0.1 to 6.3 years). Fifty-four patients were corrected as neonates. Thirty-four patients were operated on out of the neonatal period (> 1 month of age). A systolic blood pressure gradient > or = 20 mm Hg and a Doppler flow velocity > or = 2.5 ms across the area of repair were considered a recurrent obstruction.No patients in the pediatric group had a recurrent obstruction. In the neonatal group, 3 patients (5.5%) had recurrent obstruction. Of those, 2 patients had a reintervention performed; one reintervention was a balloon angioplasty and the other one was a reoperation. Kaplan-Meier analysis of the neonatal group revealed a 95.8% freedom from reintervention at 1 and 2 years.The end-to-side aortic anastomosis is an effective repair for coarctation of the aorta. Even when performed in the neonatal period, recurrence of coarctation is rare.

View details for Web of Science ID 000179262300044

View details for PubMedID 12440621