children s health issues
Coarctation of the Aorta
Symptoms of Coarctation of the Aorta
Infants with mild coarctation usually have few or no symptoms. Infants with moderate coarctation may have rapid, sometimes labored breathing, a fast heart beat, poor feeding, grayish skin coloration, decreased number of wet diapers, and irritability or lethargy. With a severe coarctation in infancy, blood can flow to the lower portion of the aorta (at a point past its narrowing) through the open connection between the aorta and the pulmonary artery, the ductus arteriosus. Symptoms usually do not occur until the ductus closes, usually when the newborn is a few days old. After the closure, the blood supplied through the ductus disappears, sometimes causing sudden loss of almost the entire blood supply to the lower body. Sudden, catastrophic Heart Failure (HF) and Most older children with coarctation do not have symptoms. Occasionally, children with coarctation have headaches or nosebleeds because of high blood pressure in the upper body or leg pains during exercise because the blood supply to the legs is insufficient. 