Coarctation of the Suprarenal Aorta: Case Report of a Pediatric Patient

Coarctation is an abnormal narrowing of the aorta that usually occur in the isthmus around the origin of the ductus (ligamentum) arteriosus. It is one of the most common congenital cardiovascular anomalies with a reported incidence of 0.2–0.6 per 1000 live births. This was first described by Schlesinger in 1835 who found a severely hypoplastic suprarenal aortic segment in a 15-year-old female who also had a subisthmal coarctation with a narrowed segment above the diaphragm. Abdominal coarctation is an uncommon congenital anomaly. It may be complicated by varying degrees of involvement of the visceral vasculature and is a cause of hypertension in the young. The first report of aortic coarctation occurring below the diaphragm appeared in 1861, when Powers described a patient with aortic coarctation occurring below the level of the visceral arteries. Though first identified in 1835, diagnostic frequency increased with the advent of aortography. We report our experience in a patient with aortic thoraco-abdominal coarctation successfully treated in a combined approach operation with an aorto-aortic bypass graft.