Coarctation of the aorta.

Coarctation of the aorta is a cause of hypertension that can present dramatically in the severely ill infant or appear incidentally in the asymptomatic young adult. Coarctation is easily detected and there is good evidence that the extremely poor natural history can be altered favorably by surgical correction. The elevated blood pressure can be lowered in the majority of patients, and there is every expectation that the incidence of known complications of coarctation can be decreased. However, in about three fourths of the patients, significant residual cardiovascular defects persist, with their potential for future problems as yet incompletely defined. For this reason, patients who have undergone surgery for coarctation will need to be followed carefully for an indefinite period.