Association of Plasma Renin Activity with Risk of Late Hypertension in Pediatric Patients with Early Aortic Coarctation Repair: A Retrospective Study

Coarctation of the aorta (CoA) represents 5% to 7% of all congenital heart diseases. Surgery and interventional methods offer great short-term results, but the occurrence of postoperative hypertension associated with cardiovascular and cerebral vascular disease increases mortality and morbidity in the long term. This study aims to investigate risk factors associated with postoperative hypertension in pediatric patients with early repair of isolated aortic coarctation.

A total of 41 patients with isolated aortic coarctation were included. The mean age was 35.3 ± 46.34 days. Early repair under one month was performed in 65.9% of patients. In all except two patients, end-to-end anastomosis was used. A follow-up at two years revealed an incidence of 58.5% of hypertension. Using logistic regression, preoperative renin plasma concentration above the upper normal level (46.1 μUI/mL) was independently associated with the occurrence of hypertension (OR = 2.49, 95% CI = 2.001-5.03, p = 0.001).

Coarctation of the aorta is not just a simple mechanical obstruction of the aorta and should be seen and managed as a systemic disease. Abnormal preoperative renin concentrations were independently associated with the occurrence of HT at follow-up, suggesting that vascular dysfunction could play a role in hypertension development after successful CoA repair, negatively influencing the long-term prognostic of these patients.