What is the Difference Between Coarctation and Hypoplastic Aortic Arch

The key difference between coarctation and hypoplastic aortic arch is that coarctation aortic arch is a medical condition happening due to the narrowing or blockage of the smaller part of the aorta arch, while the hypoplastic aortic arch is a medical condition happening due to the narrowing or blockage of the larger part of the aorta arch.

Coarctation and hypoplastic aortic arch are two congenital heart defects. Aorta is the largest artery in the body. It transports oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the rest of the body. Both coarctation and hypoplastic aortic arch are due to the narrowing of the aortic arch. The aortic arch is a part of the aorta between the ascending and descending aorta. In both these conditions, the heart needs to pump blood harder to move through the aorta.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Coarctation Aortic Arch
3. What is Hypoplastic Aortic Arch
4. Similarities – Coarctation and Hypoplastic Aortic Arch
5. Coarctation vs Hypoplastic Aortic Arch in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Coarctation vs Hypoplastic Aortic Arch

What is Coarctation Aortic Arch?

Coarctation aortic arch is a medical condition happening due to the narrowing or blockage of a smaller part of the aorta arch. This is a congenital heart defect. Coarctation aortic arch can normally affect any part of the aorta. But it usually affects an area near a blood vessel called the ductus arteriosus. Coarctation aortic arch is caused by traumatic injury, severe hardening of the arteries, and inflamed arteries. The symptoms of this condition may include difficulty breathing, difficulty feeding, heavy sweating, irritability, pale skin, chest pain, high blood pressure, muscle weakness, and nose bleeds.

Moreover, coarctation aortic arch can be diagnosed through ultrasound during pregnancy, echocardiogram, electrocardiogram, chest X-ray, MRI, CT scan, CT angiogram, and cardiac catheterization. Furthermore, treatment options for coarctation aortic arch include medications (high blood pressure medicines) and surgeries (balloon angioplasty and stenting, resection, subclavian flap aortoplasty, bypass graft repair, and patch aortopalsty).

What is Hypoplastic Aortic Arch?

The hypoplastic aortic arch is a medical condition happening due to the narrowing or blockage of the larger part of the aorta arch. The symptoms of hypoplastic aortic arch may include rapid breathing or shortness of breath, abnormal sleepiness, rapid heart rate, difficulty nursing or feeding, lower body skin appearing gray, and cool feet and legs. This condition can occur in a large portion of the aortic arch, typically between the left carotid artery and the subclavian artery. The hypoplastic aortic arch is caused due to abnormal blood flow patterns after the coarctation aortic arch.

Moreover, the hypoplastic aortic arch is diagnosed through ultrasound during pregnancy and clinical evaluation (high blood pressure), echocardiogram, electrocardiogram, chest x-ray, pulse oximetry, cardiac MRI, and cardiac catheterization. Furthermore, the hypoplastic aortic arch is treated through surgery (incision and cardiopulmonary bypass).

What are the Similarities Between Coarctation and Hypoplastic Aortic Arch?

• Coarctation and hypoplastic aortic arch are two congenital heart defects.
• Both conditions predominantly affect children and infants.
• These conditions may have similar symptoms, such as breathing difficulties and chest pain.
• Both conditions can be diagnosed through echocardiogram, electrocardiogram and imaging tests like X-ray, ultrasound, CT scan, and MRI.
• They are mainly treated through surgeries.

What is the Difference Between Coarctation and Hypoplastic Aortic Arch?

Coarctation aortic arch is a medical condition happening due to the narrowing or blockage of the smaller part of the aorta arch, while the hypoplastic aortic arch is a medical condition happening due to the narrowing or blockage of the larger part of the aorta arch. Thus, this is the key difference between coarctation and hypoplastic aortic arch. Furthermore, the coarctation aortic arch is a less severe condition, while the hypoplastic aortic arch is a more severe condition.

The below infographic presents the differences between coarctation and hypoplastic aortic arch in tabular form for side-by-side comparison.

Summary – Coarctation vs Hypoplastic Aortic Arch

Coarctation and hypoplastic aortic arch are two congenital heart defects. Both these conditions predominantly affect children and infants. The coarctation aortic arch occurs due to the narrowing or blockage of the smaller part of the aorta arch, while the hypoplastic aortic arch occurs due to the narrowing or blockage of the larger part of the aorta arch. So, this is the summary of the difference between coarctation and hypoplastic aortic arch.

Reference:

1. “Coarctation of the Aorta.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research.
2. “Hypoplastic or Interrupted Aortic Arch.” Rady Children’s Hospital-San Diego.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Blausen 0243 CoarctationofAorta CloseUp” By Blausen.com staff (2014). “Medical gallery of Blausen Medical 2014”. WikiJournal of Medicine 1 (2). DOI:10.15347/wjm/2014.010. ISSN 2002-4436. – Own work (CC BY 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “29 Tetralogy of Fallot, TGA, DORV, VSD, hypoplastic arch” By HeartBabyHome (CC BY-NC 2.0) via Flickr