Some studies have suggested endothelial dysfunction in adult patients after repair of aortic coarctation (CoA), and it has been proposed to play a key role in the pathogenesis of arterial hypertension in the absence of re-coarctation.

A study recently published in Heart aimed to assess the presence of endothelial dysfunction, the number of endothelial progenitor cells, and the levels of proinflammatory cytokines associated with endothelial injury in contemporary patients after CoA repair.

Alistair Lindsay discusses what the work revealed with lead author Robert Radke, Division of Adult Congenital and Valvular Heart Disease, Department of Cardiology and Angiology, University Hospital Muenster.

Read the full paper (for free):
http://goo.gl/z32cOl