The treatment of aortic coarctation is primarily surgical. In newborns with critical aortic coarctation, catheter intervention by means of balloon dilatation for acute treatment may be life-saving.
In older children and adolescents, it is also possible to perform balloon dilatation of the aortic coarctation stenosis without cardiac surgery as part of a cardiac catheterisation procedure. This technique is used as a standard treatment if a narrowing occurs again in the area of the suture after an operation. In patients where balloon dilatation alone is not sufficient or where there is a weakness in the wall of the aorta, the "diseased" aortic isthmus can be kept open permanently with a vascular support (stent implantation).
