Anomalies of the aortic arch: Aortic coarctation and interrupted aortic arch

Abstract

Coarctation of the aorta (CoA) or aortic coarctation is one of the most common types of congenital heart diseases presenting itself as an obstructive lesion most often in the thoracic aorta. Its prevalence is 1 in 2500 births; consisting 5-8 % of all congenital heart defects and often, a number of cardiovascular abnormalities are associated with CoA. The disease is much more frequent in males than females. The frequency of CoA is higher in some disease states like Turner syndrome: 15-20 % of CoA cases are Turner syndrome patients (Torok et al. 2015).