COARCTATION OF AORTA IN INFANCY

Abstract

Thirty infants with cardiac symptoms and with coarctation of the aorta were observed during the period from 1949 to 1959. The infants were treated first by medical management. Failure of medical management was the indication for additional diagnostic studies and for early surgery on the coarctation or the associated lesion if feasible. Three babies were operated upon; none survived. Including these three, there were 15 deaths during infancy, all in the first 8 months and 11 in the first 3 months of life. All who died and half who survived had intracardiac defects in addition to the coarctation. The associated lesions sometimes masked the presence of the coarctation making the latter diagnosis difficult. Among the 19 where the diagnosis of coarctation could be made with certainty on physical examination, there were 15 who survived infancy. There were no deaths among the eight patients with uncomplicated coarctation in the observation period of 5 to 10 years.