[Congenital subclavian steal syndrome. Apropos of 14 cases. Review of the literature].

Fourteen cases of the congenital subclavian steal syndrome are presented with a review of 99 cases in the literature. This abnormality is usually asymptomatic and a fortuitous finding (clinical: asymmetric blood pressure; radiological: investigation of an associated cardiovascular malformation). The possible malformations are numerous and may be diagnosed by angiography: however, they can be suspected from three simple investigations, clinical examination indicating the side of lower blood pressure, chest X-ray and barium swallow. Seventy one per cent congenital subclavian steal syndromes are associated with a right-sided aortic arch, the steal being then almost always left-sided via a left subclavian artery anomaly. In this group, a left subclavian artery isolated from the aorta represents about a half of the cases. A cardiac malformation is present in one out of two cases and a patent ductus arteriosus uniting the left subclavian artery and the left pulmonary artery is observed in one out of four cases. Twenty nine per cent of congenital subclavian steal syndromes are associated with a left-sided aortic arch. In these cases the abnormalities usually involve the aortic arch (57% of cases) or a right or left subclavian artery. Therefore, in this group, there is no preferential side for the subclavian steal which can be right, left or bilateral. These abnormalities usually only require medical surveillance. When they become symptomatic, vertebro-subclavian revascularisation is justified. The presence of a subclavian steal may have surgical implications: it is important to exclude a subclavian steal before performing a Blalock anastomosis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)