Coarctation of the aorta   256

General: Congenital, local, and developmental; occurs in one of 2,000; not familial; not predictable by sex.

Ocular: Straightening of the arteriolar tree; arteriovenous crossing defects; focal caliber changes; cotton-wool spots; retinal edema; pronounced corkscrew tortuosity of the arterioles with little other retinal changes in 50% of patients; retinal vascular anomalies secondary to hemodynamic changes.

Clinical: Aorta narrowed to less than 1 cm in the region of the insertion of the ductus arteriosus; dyspnea; headache; epistaxis; palpitations of the heart; thoracic pain; intermittent claudication.

Asch AJ. Turner's syndrome occurring with Horner's syndrome. Coarctation of the aorta and aortic aneurysm. Am J Dis Child 1979; 133:827-830.

Duane TD. Clinical Ophthalmology. Philadelphia: JB Lippincott, 1987.

Granstrom KO. Retinal changes in coarctation of the aorta. Br J Ophthalmol 1951; 35:143.

Johns KJ, et al. Retinal vascular abnormalities in patients with coarctation of the aorta. Arch Ophthalmol 1991:109: 1266-l268.