In certain structural abnormalities of the aorta, such as coarctation, in which the artery's middle coat is deformed with resultant narrowing of the channel, arterial pressure in the upper half of the body is abnormally high.
In coarctation of the aorta, the aorta may be narrowed just below the point where the arteries supplying the upper part of the body emerge, thus increasing blood pressure in the upper half of the body and reducing pressure in the lower half of the body.
Coarctation of the aorta, which is a constriction of the aorta, usually in the same region as the ductus arteriosus, is one of the most common congenital cardiac defects.
Congenital defects of the aortic arch include persistent ductus arteriosus, in which the channel connecting the aorta and the pulmonary artery in the fetus does not close after birth and must be closed surgically, and coarctation (narrowing) of the aorta, which causes an increased work load on the left ventricle.
Operations are of two general types: those that can be performed without a heart-lung machine, such as surgeries for patent ductus arteriosus and coarctation of the aorta, and those, such as intracardiac abnormalities, that require a heart-lung machine.
In coarctation of the aorta there is a narrowing of the aortic wall, usually at that portion of the aorta just beyond the site at which the main blood vessel to the left arm (the subclavian artery) originates.
Our son's heart defect was a coarctation of the aorta, a narrowing of the body's largest artery.
The former group includes coarctation (the aorta is abnormally narrowed) and transposition (the aorta and pulmonary artery are the wrong way round).
One cause of high blood pressure is a narrowing called a coarctation of the aorta.
