Aortic Coarctation

Aortic Coarctation

Signs and Symptoms
Diagnosis
Treatment

Diagnosis

To diagnose aortic coarctation, your child's doctor will conduct a thorough examination. Tests may be recommended to make a definite diagnosis and rule out other conditions that cause similar symptoms. Tests may include:

• Cardiac catheterization, which involves injecting a dye into the heart to see how the heart and aorta are functioning on a "video" X-ray.
• Chest X-ray to see the heart's size
• Echocardiogram, a test that uses sound waves to create a moving picture of the heart.
• Electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG), a test that records the electrical activity of the heart.
• Magnetic resonance imagining (MRI) or computed tomography (CT) scan may performed to better see the restricted area and surrounding blood vessels

Reviewed by health care specialists at UCSF Children's Hospital.
Last updated May 8, 2007