Arko, Frank R.

Objective: To evaluate outcomes of endovascular treatment of aortic coarctation in the adult, either newly diagnosed or due to recurrent coarctation and pseudoaneurysm formation Methods: Clinical data and imaging studies of 93 patients treated at nine institutions from 1999-2015 were reviewed. Primary end-points were morbidity and mortality. Secondary end-points were stent patency and need for re-intervention Results: There were 54 male and 39 female patients with a mean age of 44±17 years, including 32 with de novo coarctation (mean 48±16 years) and 61 with prior open repair during childhood, who required endovascular re-intervention (mean: 30±17 years after initial repair). Indications for treatment were: resistant hypertension (32%), left ventricular hypertrophy (23%) and claudication (20%). Imaging studies included: computed tomography angiography (CTA) (42%), CTA and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) (37%), MRA (13%), angiography (5%) and ultrasound (2%). Endovascular treatment was performed using stent grafts (55%), balloon expandable bare metal in (28%) or covered stents (15%) and primary angioplasty alone (1%). Mean lesion length and diameter were 64±50mm and 20±7mm, respectively. Mean systolic pressure gradient decreased from 24±18mmHg to 5±8mmHg after treatment, (p<0.001). Four patients had intraprocedural complications including: rupture in two, type 1A endoleak and access hemorrhage in one each. Perioperative complications occurred in six: aortic dissection in three, thrombus migration into renal artery, spinal headache requiring blood patch and lung hemorrhage in one patient each. Two patients died within 30-days from hemorrhage and cardiopulmonary arrest. After a mean follow up time of 7±21 years, nearly all patients (98%) had symptom improvement and all stents were patent. Re-intervention was needed in 11%. 2 patients died from coarctation related causes including rupture of an infected graft and visceral ischemia Conclusions: In this multi-center study, endovascular repair was a safe and effective treatment for de novo coarctation and post-surgical complications of coarctation repair in adults. Rate of procedural complications and re-interventions were low with high procedural and long-term clinical success