Early and late outcome of covered and non-covered stents in the treatment of coarctation of aorta- A single centre experience

OBJECTIVE: Stenting of coarctation of aorta with covered or uncovered stents is the accepted modality of treatment in older children and adults. The indications which mandate the use of covered stents are still unclear. We attempted to study the early and late outcomes after stenting of native and recurrent coarctation of aorta with uncovered and covered stents. METHOD: This is a retrospective study of patients who underwent stenting for coarctation of aorta with covered or non-covered stents at our institute. Early and late outcome for both the groups were studied. RESULTS: Twenty patients underwent implantation of covered stent and twenty five patients had uncovered stent implantation. Patients in the covered stent group were older and had greater basal pressure gradient. More patients in the covered stent group had residual gradient >10 mm Hg after the procedure. There was no mortality or aortic wall injury in either group. Four patients in the covered stent group underwent planned re-intervention and two had unplanned re-intervention. None of the patients in the uncovered stent group had re-intervention. Higher incidence of late lumen loss was noted in the covered stent group. CONCLUSION: Uncovered stents can be safely implanted with minimal risk of aortic wall injury in patients with low risk anatomic features. Covered stent implantation is associated with higher incidence of planned and unplanned re-intervention.