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Tests and diagnosis
By Mayo Clinic staffThe age at which people with coarctation of the aorta are diagnosed depends on the severity of the condition. If the aortic coarctation is severe, it's usually diagnosed during infancy.
Adults and older children tend to have milder cases and usually appear healthy until a doctor detects:
- High blood pressure in your arms
- A blood pressure difference between your arms and legs
- A weak or delayed pulse in your legs
- A heart murmur — an abnormal whooshing sound caused by turbulent blood flow
Diagnostic tests
Tests to confirm a diagnosis of coarctation of the aorta include:
- Chest X-ray. X-rays produce pictures by passing an X-ray beam through your body, which is absorbed in different amounts by body structures. A chest X-ray may show an enlarged heart or a narrowing in the aorta at the site of the coarctation.
- Echocardiogram. Echocardiograms use high-pitched sound waves to produce an image of the heart. Sound waves bounce off your heart and produce moving images that can be viewed on a video screen. An echocardiogram may detect the location and severity of the aortic coarctation and can show other heart defects, such as a bicuspid aortic valve.
- Electrocardiogram (ECG). An ECG test records the electrical activity in your heart each time it contracts. During this procedure, patches with wires (electrodes) are placed on your chest, wrists and ankles. The electrodes measure electrical activity, which is recorded on paper or a computer monitor. If the coarctation of the aorta is severe, the ECG will show that you might have a thickened heart muscle (ventricular hypertrophy).
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). An MRI scan is a test that uses a magnetic field and pulses of radio wave energy to make pictures of the body. An MRI of the chest will reveal the location of the coarctation of the aorta and determine whether it affects other blood vessels in your body.
- Cardiac catheterization. During this procedure, your doctor inserts a thin flexible tube (catheter) into an artery or vein in your groin and threads it up to your heart. A dye is injected through the catheter to make your heart structures visible on X-ray pictures. Cardiac catheterization helps determine the severity of the aortic coarctation.
