Screening for aortic aneurysm after treatment of coarctation

Isolated coarctation of the aorta (CoA) occurs in 6-8 % of patients with congenital heart disease. After successful relief of obstruction, patients remain at risk for aortic aneurysm formation at the site of the repair. We sought to determine the diagnostic utility of echocardiography compared with advanced arch imaging (AAI) in diagnosing aortic aneurysms in pediatric patients after CoA repair. The Congenital Heart Databases from 1996 and 2009 were reviewed. All patients treated for CoA who had AAI defined by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), or catheterization were identified. Data collected included the following: type, timing, and number of interventions, presence and time to aneurysm diagnosis, and mortality. Patients were subdivided into surgical and catheterization groups for analysis. Seven hundred and fifty-nine patients underwent treatment for CoA during the study period. Three hundred and ninety-nine patients had at least one AAI. Aneurysms were diagnosed by AAI in 28 of 399 patients at a mean of 10 ± 8.4 years after treatment. Echocardiography reports were available for 380 of 399 patients with AAI. The sensitivity of echocardiography for detecting aneurysms was 24 %. The prevalence of aneurysms was significantly greater in the catheterization group (p < 0.05) compared with the surgery group. Aneurysm was also diagnosed earlier in the catheterization group compared with the surgery group (p = 0.02). Multivariate analysis showed a significantly increased risk of aneurysm diagnosis in patients in the catheterization subgroup and in patients requiring more than three procedures. Aortic aneurysms continue to be an important complication after CoA repair. Although serial echocardiograms are the test of choice for following-up most congenital cardiac lesions in pediatrics, our data show that echocardiography is inadequate for the detection of aneurysms after CoA repair. Because the time to aneurysm diagnosis was shorter and the risk greater in the catheterization group (particularly for patients requiring more than one procedure), surveillance with cardiac MRI or CT should begin earlier in these patients.