What does aortic coarctation look like?

  The disease is classified into three types according to the location and extent of extension: Type I: the endothelial rupture is located in the ascending aorta and extends beyond the aortic arch to the abdominal aorta, which is the most common type; Type II: the endothelial rupture is located in the ascending aorta and the extension is limited to the ascending aorta or the aortic arch; Type III: the endothelial rupture is located in the isthmus of the descending aorta and the extension involves the descending aorta or/and the abdominal aorta. Type A (including type I and II), also known as the proximal type, is proposed by Daily and Miller, and type B (equivalent to DeBakey type III), also known as the distal type, is proposed where the lesion begins in the descending aorta. Clinical symptoms I. Pain is a prominent and characteristic symptom of the disease, with approximately 96% of patients having sudden, acute, severe and persistent pain. About 96% of patients have sudden, acute, severe and persistent and intolerable pain, unlike the pain of myocardial infarction, which is gradually increasing and less severe. The site of pain can sometimes suggest the site of the laceration; if only anterior chest pain is present, more than 90% is in the ascending aorta, and pain in the neck, throat, jaw, or face also strongly suggests ascending aortic entrapment; if the pain is most painful between the scapulae, more than 90% is in the descending aorta, and pain in the back, abdomen, or lower extremities also strongly suggests descending aortic entrapment. Very few patients only complained of chest pain, which may be the chest pain caused by heart compression due to the external rupture of ascending aortic entrapment breaking the pericardial cavity, sometimes it is easy to ignore the diagnosis of aortic entrapment, which should be paid attention to.  Second, shock, deficiency and blood pressure changes About half or 1/3 of patients have pallor, profuse sweating, wet and cold skin, shortness of breath, rapid pulse, weak pulse or disappearance after the onset, and the degree of blood pressure decrease is often not parallel to the above symptom expression. Some patients may even have increased blood pressure due to severe pain. Severe shock is only seen when the entrapment tumor breaks into the pleural cavity with massive internal bleeding. Hypotension is mostly the result of cardiac tamponade or acute severe aortic valve closure insufficiency. Significant asymmetry of blood pressure and pulse in both limbs is often highly suggestive of the disease.  The expansion of the clotted hematoma may compress adjacent tissues or affect large branches of the aorta, resulting in different symptoms and signs, resulting in a complex clinical presentation, which should be given high priority.  The most common cardiovascular system is the following three aspects: (1) aortic valve insufficiency and heart failure: acute aortic valve insufficiency due to expansion of the annulus and displacement of the aortic valve by ascending aortic coarctation; a typical sigh-like diastolic murmur can be heard in the precordial region and congestive heart failure can occur, and the murmur may not be clear in severe heart failure or tachycardia.  (2) Myocardial infarction: Acute infarction can occur when a few proximal intercalated endothelial ruptures obscure the coronary sinus orifice; most affect the right coronary sinus, so inferior wall infarction is seen. Thrombolysis and anticoagulation are strictly forbidden in this case, otherwise it can lead to bleeding catastrophe and the mortality rate can be as high as 71%, which should be fully alert and strictly differentiated.  (3) Cardiac compression 2, other including neurological, respiratory, digestive and urinary systems can be involved; entrapment of arteries of brain and spinal cord can cause neurological symptoms: coma, paralysis, etc. Most of them are proximal entrapment affecting the blood supply of the unnamed or left common carotid artery; of course, distal entrapment can also cause impaired motor function of limbs due to involvement of spinal arteries. The entrapment of the recurrent laryngeal nerve may cause hoarseness. A dissection into the thoracic or abdominal cavity may lead to accumulation of blood in the thoracic and abdominal cavities, and a dissection into the trachea, bronchus or esophagus may lead to massive hemoptysis or vomiting of blood, which often results in death within minutes. Extension of the entrapment into the abdominal artery or mesenteric artery can lead to acute abdominal necrosis of the intestine. Extension of the intercalated artery to the renal artery can cause acute low back pain, hematuria, acute renal failure, or renal hypertension. Extension of the clamping to the iliac artery may result in ischemia of the lower extremities leading to necrosis due to decreased perfusion of the femoral artery.