الفهرس 
Table of contentsOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
 |  | from | 213 |  |  |
| | | from | 213 | | |
Abstract
Aortic coarctation is one of the most common congenital heart diseases. It is defined as a congenital narrowing or constriction of the aorta localized at the insertion of the ductus arteriosus. Early diagnosis and treatment are the keys to successful outcomes. It is associated with abnormalities in the heart and intracranial vasculature, such as cerebral aneurysms. Bicuspid aortic valve is the most commonly associated abnormality. Ventricular septal defect, sinus venosus–type atrial septal defect, hypoplastic left heart syndrome, mitral valve malformation and truncus arteriosus are among the other associated anomalies with aortic coarctation. Clinical manifestations mainly depend on the location and degree of luminal narrowing, extent of the collateral circulation, and associated congenital heart defects. Echocardiography is generally the first imaging modality because of its ease of use and lack of ionizing radiation. Its major advantage is the ability to quantify the pressure gradient across the coarctation segment. The presence of associated congenital heart and valve anomalies as well as the cardiac function can also be evaluated effectively in a noninvasive manner. However, not all segments of the aorta can be optimally evaluated with this modality. The extent and severity of the collateral circulation may also be difficult to evaluate with echocardiography. ECG gated cardiac MRI was done for 31 patients. They were referred from the pediatric cardiology clinic in Children Hospital Mansoura University with echocardiography reports of coarctation of aorta. They are classified into two groups: pre-correction group (15 patients) and post- correction group (16 patients). Their ages ranged from 0.33 to 13.9 years with median 7.5 years in the pre-correction group and from 0.33 to 18 years with median 7.75 years in the post-correction group.