HYPERTENSION AFTER RESECTION OF COARCTATION OF THE AORTA

Abstract
An account is given of the post-operative course of the blood pressure in 33 children (aged 2 months-13 years) operated upon for coarctation of the aorta. Five of these (15%) developed reactive hypertension, defined as a post-operative rise in blood pressure to above the pre-operative level. In one of these patients the reactive hypertension was presumably of renal origin, and in two others urinary symptoms pointed to a similar causation. The etiology and pathogenesis are discussed, and from the prophylactic viewpoint it is recommended that the release of the aortic clamps after anastomosis be very slow.