Coarctation of the aorta in father and son.

Abstract

Although it is not very unusual to find congenital heart disease in two or more members of a family, familial cases of coarctation of the aorta are rare. A search of the literature has revealed only six reports relating to a total of seven families. Wood (1956) states that “about 1 per cent of cases of coarctation appear to be hereditary or familial, although very few such instances have been published”. He has seen a woman, aged 34, with coarctation who had a brother and a male cousin with the same condition. The brother died at the age of 17 from cerebral haemorrhage and the cousin died, aged 37, from aortic rupture. Walker (1934) reported coarctation in a man, aged 48, and his 18-year-old son, and Klemola (1939) mentioned two families in both of which two brothers had this type of congenital heart defect. Taylor and Pollock (1953) found three cases of coarctation in a family, the mother, daughter and son being affected. Moss (1955) and Campbell (1959) reported coarctation in a brother and sister and two sisters respectively; all these four patients were treated surgically.