Clinical findings and hemodynamic parameters in adults surgically treated for coarctation of the aorta in childhood.

75 patients who had been operated between the ages of 3 and 17 years for juxta- or postductal coarctation of the aorta were investigated 11.2 years (1-19) later, when they had reached the mean age of 22 years. In 10 patients (13%) there had been an associated cardiac defect. Of the 65 patients without cardiac complications, 10% showed normal physiological values and 64% showed satisfactory results of surgery. There was moderate hypertension in 18% of the patients and in 6 (10%) there was a pressure gradient between the upper and lower extremities greater than 15 mm Hg. Aortography revealed recoarctation in only 3 cases (5%). The electrocardiogram was abnormal in 48% of the patients. Chest films showed the presence of specific and nonspecific signs of coarctation in 89% of the cases. Hemodynamic investigation by radiocirculography showed normal values in most instances.