Stent Angioplasty for Critical Native Aortic Coarctation in Three Infants: Up to 15-Year Follow-Up Without Surgical Intervention and Review of the Literature

Management of neonatal native coarctation is debated till now. Surgical therapy remains an option but may be unwarranted in critically sick infants with complex lesions. Balloon dilatation has been employed but with early re-stenosis. Stent angioplasty has also been used but as a bridge towards definitive surgical therapy. Four critically sick infants with complex coarctation and additional co-morbidity factors underwent primary stent therapy as surgical intervention was denied. One patient had died earlier due to reasons unrelated to the procedure. Three survivors underwent multiple dilatations of primary stents as indicated. One of the three survivors did not require any further dilatation after the age of 5 years and remained stable till the time of reporting. High-pressure Cheatham Platinum stents were implanted inside the primary stents in two infants, who developed re-stenosis due to somatic growth. These stents were further balloon dilated at high atmospheric pressure. Femoral arteries in both of them were blocked but were re-canalized after balloon dilatation in one and stent angioplasty in the other. After a follow-up of about 15 years, all of them have been doing fine with acceptable Doppler gradients. They were normotensive and on no cardiac medications. It can be concluded that, though surgical repair remains a standard of care, stent angioplasty in selected infants with complex lesions is feasible and effective. Multiple dilatations can be performed without added risk of stent migration. Bio-absorbable and growth stents hold a promise for future use in such situations.