Coarctation of the aorta. Postoperative haemodynamic and angiographic findings in 52 patients.

: 52 patients operated on for coarctation of the aorta from 1955 to 1978 were subjected to postoperative haemodynamic and angiographic examinations during the period 1969 to 1979. Age at operation ranged from 11 days to 54 years (mean 21 years). Thirty patients, all above the age of 10, had a tube prosthesis inserted and an end-to-end anastomosis was performed in 19 patients. Two patients aged 4 and 13 years, respectively, had a pericardial patch inserted and the last patient aged 31 years a dacron velour patch. In 43 of the 52 patients, the haemodynamic and angiographic examinations were performed via the femoral artery. In 8 of the remaining patients, the contrast medium was injected into the pulmonary artery with filming after its passage through the lungs. Transseptal puncture with injection into the left ventricle was used in one patient. Patients with a tube prosthesis presented no significant pressure gradient and angiography showed slight indentations only at both the cranial and the distal anastomoses. Four of the patients with an end-to-end anastomosis developed re-coarctation and were re-operated. The remaining 18 patients showed haemodynamic and angiographic findings comparable to those found in patients where a tube prosthesis was inserted. Although none of the patients with a tube prosthesis have developed recoarctation so far, continued examination is necessary in order to clarify the long-term results.