Increased carotid intima-media thickness and reduced health-related physical fitness in children and adolescents with coarctation of the aorta

Background: Coarctation of the Aorta (CoA) was assumed to be one of the congenital heart defects not associated with major long-term sequels. Meanwhile, it is known that there are long-term cardiovascular consequences. This study investigates the functional outcome measures in children with CoA. Methods: 77 children (40.3% girls, 13.1 ± 3.3 years) with CoA were examined for their functional outcome measures and compared to healthy controls (CG). Carotid Intima-Media wall thickness (cIMT) was measured by ultrasound of the common carotid artery. In addition, Health-related Physical Fitness (HrPF) was assessed by five tasks of the FITNESSGRAM® and health-related quality of life (HrQoL) was analyzed with a self-report questionnaire (KINDL-R). Results: After adjustment for age and sex and in comparison to the CG, the CoA patients showed structural changes in cIMT (CoA: 0.480 ± 0.043 mm vs CG: 0.465 ± 0.033 mm; p = 0.002) and significantly lower HrPF (z-score −0.46 ± 0.7; p