The aorta is the main artery of the body when it gets narrowed near from its arc, this condition is called Coarctation of The Aorta or COA. This disease is considered as the heart problem which is present at birth. The blood vessels of the aorta carry oxygen rich blood which travels from the heart to the other parts of the body for their health.

However, the flow of the blood gets obstructed by a cardiovascular problem which is called coarctation. These narrow blood vessels make the left ventricle of the heart to pump blood by putting more pressure and stress. This causes less blood to the brain and the body which may cause shock and may lead to death. This is a critical condition which is found in newborns. It is not easy to detect this problem because it does not appear until many days after birth and which may be continued later in life.

It is found that up to 5 lakhs neonates are born with narrow aorta blood vessels due to coarctation. Baby boys are more prone to get COA than baby girls. This is a serious heart problem which cannot be left untreated, so due to advanced medical technology, now it is possible to treat this heart problem.

Causes of COA

The reason behind causing coarctation of the aorta is not fully known yet. However, there may be some factors which might cause coarctation which can be related to birth and these are given below:-

Abnormal development and changes in the aorta earlier than birth.
Turner syndrome, a genetic condition
Get infected with Rubella during pregnancy
Above the age of 35 years old
High sugar level during pregnancy
Male sex
Use of recreational medications like cocaine

Signs & Symptoms of Coarctation of The Aorta

There are some symptoms which may appear in first few days which are mentioned below:-

Shortness of breath
Excess sweating
Changes in the skin color or pale skin
Feeling sleepy
Nosebleed
Irritability

Other signs may develop later in their life which are as follows:-

Cold feet
Trouble feeding
Headache
Pain in the chest
Failed to develop and grow
Less strength in the muscles
High blood pressure

Note:- Shock may even cause death.

How Can Coarctation of The Aorta be Diagnosed?

A cardiologist can detect it only during childhood by running some tests and conducting some physical examinations:-

Blood pressure is high in the upper body and less in the lower body like legs.
There is a difference in the pulse of the neck versus femoral.
Check the sound of murmurs by using a stethoscope.

There are some tests which are conducted to diagnose abnormalities in the heart of the infants and these are given below:-

X-Ray – To see the images of the heart and any injury in the chest.
MR Angiography – It is used to see the blood vessels.
Fetal Echocardiography – It is a prenatal type of diagnosis to check the heart of the developing baby.
Heart CT Scan – It is an non-invasive process to assess the structure of the aorta.

Procedure of Coarctation of The Aorta

When newborns get diagnosed with COA then there are two options to treat coarctation. It depends on the child’s age, health and severity of the heart problem.

1) Balloon Angioplasty – In this procedure a team of cardiologists insert a thin tube of catheter. It is attached with a balloon and inserted into the blood vessels of the child’s leg. Then inflated the balloon to open up and increase the blood flow from narrow blood vessels. Sometimes, a mesh tube named a stent is placed there to keep that narrowed area.

2) Surgery – It is an open-heart surgery which is a common way to treat coarctation. There are two ways in which surgery may remove a narrow part or reconnect the ends of the aorta.

a) In the first condition, if coarctation is less then, its open ends are stitched together to resume the smooth flow of the blood. This is called end-to-end anastomosis.
b) In another condition, the surgeon removed the narrow part of the aorta in severe condition. A patch of arteries of the patient is grafted to fill the gap which is known as extended end-to-end anastomosis.

Note: Some medicines and sedatives are given to make ductus arteriosus remain open, so this will help to stabilize the condition of the baby while having surgery so they get sufficient oxygen.