Descending thoracic and abdominal aortic coarctation in the young: Surgical treatment after percutaneous approaches failure

Descending thoracic and abdominal aortic coarctations are characterized by a segmental narrowing that frequently involves the origin of the visceral and renal arteries. Optimal primary treatment is debated, being reported for both surgical and percutaneous complications. We describe our surgical experience with two youths presenting with failure of distal descending aortic stenting and with abdominal aortic coarctation post-balloon angioplasty, and associated thrombosis of a stented right renal artery and stenosis of the origin of the superior mesenteric artery (SMA). In both cases, a longitudinal aortoplasty was performed with a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) patch, using simple aortic cross-clamping. Renal thrombosis and SMA stenosis were managed with eversion technique. In-hospital course was uneventful. Midterm follow-up showed absence of significant restenosis and better control of hypertension. In order to refrain from operating on these patients as long as possible, and also because of the very high risk of a redo-surgery, we think that an initial balloon angioplasty should be considered. Surgical management can be adopted, even after failure of percutaneous treatments, with satisfactory short- and midterm vessels patency.