Coarctation of the aorta in infants

Repair of coarctation of the aorta in the first year of life by resection and end-to-end anastomosis has been reported to have a high rate of recurrence, and recent studies favor angioplasty techniques. Forty-seven consecutive infants less than 1 year of age who were operated upon over a 20 year period were analyzed. The hospital mortality was analyzed in three groups: Group I--two of 11 patients (18%) with coarctation; Group II--one of nine patients (11%) with coarctation and ventricular septal defect; Group III--12 of 27 patients (44%) with coarctation and major intracardiac anomalies. There was no difference in age or body surface area between survivors and nonsurvivors. Repair was performed by a resection and end-to-end anastomosis to the distal aortic arch in 43 and by patch angioplasty in four. Anastomosis was performed with 5-0 silk suture prior to 1972. Since then, 7-0 polypropylene suture has generally been used. Arm/leg pressure gradient was assessed at rest by the Doppler technique in 31 long-term survivors of the end-to-end anastomosis technique; 24 of them had polypropylene suture used and seven had silk suture. Recurrence of coarctation was defined as arm/leg gradient greater than or equal to 20 mm Hg. Actuarial freedom from recurrence at 5 and 10 years was 91% in the polypropylene group versus 57% and 44% in the silk group. Good long-term results with low incidence of recurrent coarctation achieved by end-to-end anastomosis with fine polypropylene suture justify continued use of this technique in preference to angioplasty techniques, which sacrifice the left subclavian artery or introduce prosthetic materials. Techniques chosen for coarctation repair should be compared with current operative techniques and not older studies.