Percutaneous interventions of the aorta.

Coarctation of the aorta includes a wide array of anatomical and pathophysiological variations that may cause important long-term morbidity and mortality. Percutaneous techniques, such as balloon dilation and stenting, allow clinicians to safely decrease or abolish most gradients along the aorta, albeit with limitations. Proper patient selection and interventional technique allow clinicians to obtain an adequate stretch or therapeutic tear of the vessel wall, but should avoid complications, such as an excessive tear, dissection, aneurysm formation or rupture. The interventional technique is tailored by patient characteristics such as age, size and growth potential, by characteristics of the lesion such as degree of narrowing, length, angulation(s) and by local regulations.