How is aortic coarctation treated?

  Treatment Once the disease is suspected or diagnosed, the patient should be hospitalized for supervised treatment. The goal of treatment is to reduce myocardial contractility, slow left ventricular systolic velocity (dv/dt) and peripheral arterial pressure. The goal of treatment is to control the systolic blood pressure at 13.3-16.0 kPa (100-120 mmHg) and heart rate at 60-75 beats/min. This can effectively stabilize or abort the continued separation of aortic coarctation, so that the symptoms are relieved and the pain disappears. Treatment is divided into two stages: emergency treatment and consolidation treatment.  (a) Emergency treatment ① Analgesia: use morphine with sedatives.  ② Replenish blood volume: transfuse blood if there is bleeding into the pericardium: thoracic or aortic rupture.  (③) Antihypertensive: for patients with combined hypertension, intermittent intravenous administration of pranolol 5mg with sodium nitroprusside 25-50μg/min, adjust the drip rate to lower the blood pressure to the clinical treatment index. Significant reduction or disappearance of pain after blood pressure reduction is a clinical indication for cessation of expansion of the entrapment separation. Other drugs such as verapamil, nifedipine, captopril and prazosin can be chosen. Risperdal 0.5-2 mg every 4-6 hours intramuscularly is also effective. In addition, labetalol is also available, which has dual alpha and beta blocking effects and can be given intravenously or orally. It is important to note that hypertensive patients with combined aortic obstruction of large branches should not be treated with antihypertensive therapy, as hypotension can worsen ischemia. For those who do not have high blood pressure, antihypertensive drugs are also not applied, but can be used to reduce myocardial contractility with ponerol.  (B) Consolidation therapy Patients with proximal aortic coarctation, ruptured or near-ruptured aortic coarctation with incomplete aortic valve closure should be treated surgically. For slowly developing and distal aortic coarctation, medical treatment can be continued. Maintain systolic blood pressure at 13.3-16.0 kPa (100-120 mmHg). If the above drugs are not satisfactory, add captopril 25-50 mg, 3 times/d orally.  Treatment of aortic coarctation (c) Surgery Stanford type A (equivalent to Debakey type I and II) requires surgical treatment. Debakey type I surgery is ascending aorta + aortic arch prosthesis + modified stenting elephant trunk surgery, while Debakey type II surgery is ascending aorta prosthesis.  In case of combined aortic valve insufficiency or coronary artery involvement, both aortic valve replacement and Bentall’s procedure are required.  (iv) Interventional treatment Currently, percutaneous overlapping stent placement is preferred for Stanford type B (equivalent to DeBakey type III) and surgical treatment if necessary.  Preventive care Most cases die within a few hours to a few days after onset, with a mortality rate of 1% to 2% per hour within the first 24 hours, depending on the extent and degree of the lesion, with a better prognosis the more distal it is, the smaller the extent, and the less bleeding. Patients with hypertension should monitor changes in blood pressure at least twice a day, adopt a healthy lifestyle, apply drugs rationally, control blood pressure in the normal range, limit physical activity appropriately, and avoid the occurrence of disease induced by excessive exercise. In patients with aortic mitral valve malformation and Marfan syndrome, it is more important to limit strenuous activity, monitor changes in the condition with regular physical examination, and prevent the occurrence of aortic coarctation with timely surgery.