Coarctation of the aorta is a congenital malformation in which a segment of the aorta is constricted. Classically, the narrowing occurs between the origin of the left subclavian artery and just distal to the site of insertion of the ductus or ligamentum arteriosum, involving only a relatively short segment of the aorta (1). While there may be any degree of narrowing of the aortic lumen at the site of the coarctation, there is usually a marked stenosis, or less frequently an atresia, in the clinically significant cases. Rarely, coarctation occurs in other areas (2–8), either proximally in the aortic arch or in the distal thoracic or abdominal aorta, and in some instances the involved segment may be of considerable length. Coarctation in individual cases carries a variable prognosis, but it has been clearly established that the overall life expectancy of a group of patients with coarctation is much shorter than that of the population at large (1, 9). Frequently, coarctation occurs in association with other ...