Does Left Ventricular Function On Echocardiography At Rest And Exercise Predict Recoarctation In Children With Postoperative Coarctation Of Aorta

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate ventricular performance before and after exercise in children who had surgically repaired coarctation of aorta (CoA) by using two dimensional, M- mode and Doppler echocardiography and to determine whether this method can be used for identifying recoarctation in comparison to Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Design: We studied on 24 patients who were operated for CoA previously and compared with 24 healthy controls. Blood pressure monitoring, echocardiographies at rest and after exercise and MRI of aortic arc were performed. Patients having had ? 30 % of isthmic stenosis on MRI was diagnosed as recoarctation. The patient group were divided as Group A (patient without recoarctation) and Group B (patients with recoarctation) and were compared. Results: We found that 8 of 24 patients had recoarctation on MRI. Physical examination and echocardiographic evaluation revealed that hypertension on the right arm at rest, systolic and diastolic hypotension on the left leg after exercise, increased values of ejection fraction, fractioned shortening and aortic gradient on exercise may predict more than 30 % narrowing of the aortic isthmus. Conclusion: These findings can be useful as predictors for recoarctation.