Repair of coarctation of the aorta in neonates and young infants.

In repair of coarctation in neonates or young infants, inadequate removal of ductal tissue, failure to address hypoplasia of the aortic arch, and suture line tension have been reported to be important factors of residual or early recurrent stenosis at the coarctation repair site. In a consecutive series of neonates and young infants with coarctation, who were all operated without delay with extended resection, the clinical outcome regarding the development of restenosis and hypertension was studied. In addition, the resected specimens were investigated regarding the completeness of resection of ductal tissue. Twenty-five consecutive neonates and young infants (median age 22 days, range 5 to 39 days) who underwent surgical correction of coarctation were reviewed; the resected specimens were examined histologically to document the extent of ductal tissue in the aortic wall. Fifteen patients had a preductal coarctation with associated cardiovascular anomalies including a hypoplastic aortic arch (n = 11). The remaining 10 patients had a paraductal coarctation without associated intracardiac anomalies. In all patients, the isthmus was bypassed and an end-to-side anastomosis was constructed between the descending aorta and the undersurface of the proximal aortic arch (n = 13) or the distal ascending aorta (n = 12). In 13 patients without marked hypoplasia of the aortic arch, the coarctation repair was performed through a left thoracotomy. In the remaining 12 patients, the coarctation was repaired through a median sternotomy with CPB and hypothermic circulatory arrest, on the basis of an associated hypoplastic aortic arch (n = 4), hypoplastic aortic arch with intracardiac anomalies (n = 7), or a "bovine" innominate artery (n = 1). There was no perioperative or late mortality. At a median follow-up of 15 months, 1 patient (4%) developed a recurrent stenosis at the coarctation repair site; in the remaining 24 patients, echocardiography showed a widely patent anastomosis with no evidence of a hemodynamically significant gradient. None of the patients had hypertension. Histologic examination of the resected specimens demonstrated the presence of ductal tissue in the descending aorta with maximal extension into its lateral wall (mean 5.2 mm). In all specimens of the paraductal subtype, there was also extension of ductal tissue into the lateral wall of tbe isthmus (mean 3.9 mm). We conclude that: (1) in the absence of marked hypoplasia of the proximal aortic arch, coarctation can be repaired with low mortality and morbidity via a left thoracotomy; (2) in the presence of marked hypoplasia of the proximal aortic arch and/or if associated intracardiac defects also need to be repaired, we advocate repair of the coarctation and associated defects through a median sternotomy with circulatory arrest; (3) in view of the absence of postoperative hypertension in this series, early repair of aortic coarctation is recommended; and (4) because ductal tissue may extend not only into the descending aorta but also into the isthmus, complete excision of the coarctation and bypass of the isthmus are valuable techniques to avoid secondary constriction of the aorta by ductal tissue.