[Congenital kinking of the aorta: report of 5 cases]

5 patients with congenital kinking of the aorta, one male and 4 females with a mean age of 29 years (age range, 10-37 years), underwent surgical-treatment. There was a systolic murmur at the left sternal border and the interscapular area and hypertension only in the right arm. A chest rentgenogram showed a widened left superior mediastinum. Angiograms showed elongation, kinking and aneurysm formation of the aortic arch and descending aorta and the aneurysm ruptured in one. Three patients were associated with coarctation of the aortic arch, one with coarctation of the upper descending aorta and another with interruption of the aortic arch. All the patients had an excellent results. The clinical features, morphology, surgical techniques and postoperative care were discussed.