Acute and intermediate outcomes, and evaluation of injury to the aortic wall, as based on 15 years experience of implanting stents to treat aortic coarctation.

BACKGROUND: Stenting for aortic coarctation has been shown to be effective in the short term. The safety and longer term efficacy of transcatheter therapy, however, must be well established if the technique is to be widely accepted as an alternative to surgery. In order to determine the frequency, spectrum, and outcome of injury to the aortic wall caused by angioplasty or stenting of aortic coarctation, the nomenclature of mural injury in these patients must be adapted to the conditions of transcatheter therapy.

METHODS AND RESULTS: Between 1989 and July 2005, we inserted stents in 153 patients with aortic coarctation, their median age being 15.8 years. Prior aortic interventions had been performed in 98 patients, and preexisting aneurysms were observed in 19. Stenting resulted in a significant reduction of the gradient across the site of coarctation, from a median of 30 millimetres of mercury to zero (p less than 0.001), with a residual gradient within the aortic arch of 20 millimetres of mercury or more in 5% of patients. Acute injuries to the aortic wall, other than therapeutic tears, were observed in 3 patients (2%), none of whom required surgery. At median follow-up of 2.5 years, this being more than 5 years in 30 patients, 4 patients had died, albeit none from complications relating to stenting or catheterization. Acute injuries to the aortic wall did not progress, and new aneurysms were observed in 6% of patients subsequent to follow-up imaging. Stent fractures, and jailed or partially covered brachiocephalic vessels, were observed in 12, and 49, patients, respectively, but did not result in haemodynamic or embolic complications.

CONCLUSIONS: Stenting for aortic coarctation results in consistent relief of the gradient, and few serious complications in the short and intermediate term. Serious injuries to the aortic wall are uncommon in our experience, and can be minimized with a focus on technical measures, such as pre-dilation before stenting.