Endovascular treatment of coarctation and related aneurysms.

Today, surgical repair has almost doubled the 30-year survival rate in patients with coarctation of the aorta (CoA), and 72% to 98% of patients now reach adulthood. Possible late complications include malignant hypertension, left ventricular dysfunction, aortic valve dysfunction, recurrent CoA, and aneurysm formation with risk of rupture. Treating postoperative CoA-related aneurysms with observation alone is associated with a mortality rate of 36%, compared with 9% for surgical repair. Even in the best surgeons' hands, aortic surgery has associated complications, and the complexity of reoperative surgery makes the risks substantially greater. For patients with CoA-related aneurysm, endovascular treatment constitutes a good alternative to reoperative surgery because it poses a lower risk of morbidity and mortality. Implanting an endograft has been shown to be successful in treating CoA and related aneurysms, producing excellent intermediate outcomes and minimal morbidity and mortality. Despite evidence that using covered stents improves outcomes, the superiority of any particular stent type has yet to be established. With a variety of endografts available, the decision of which stent to use depends on anatomy, availability, and operator preference.