Case history
Case history #1
A 4-year-old boy presents to his pediatrician for a well-child visit. His mother reports him to be doing well and has no concerns. On exam, he is noted to have a right upper extremity blood pressure of 140/70 mmHg. His cardiovascular exam shows a quiet precordium, a normal point of maximal impact, normal S1, and normally split S2. A 2/6 long systolic murmur is heard over his back, and 2+ radial pulses and trace femoral pulses are felt.
Case history #2
A newborn infant is noted to have respiratory distress 2 days after birth. On examination she is mottled and has weak upper extremity pulses with no palpable femoral pulses. Her arterial blood gas shows a profound metabolic acidosis.
Other presentations
Rarely, an adult presents with hypertension and severe headache due to rupture of a berry aneurysm in the circle of Willis, which is thought to be associated with aortic coarctation in 10% of patients.[2]
Use of this content is subject to our disclaimer