Cardiovascular risk factors in adults with coarctation of the aorta

Background: The aging patient with adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) facesthe risk of developing atherosclerotic disease. Patients with coarctation of the aorta(CoA) are especially vulnerable because of an inherent high risk of developing hy‐pertension. However, data on the prevalence of other cardiovascular risk factors arescarce. Therefore, this study aimed to describe the prevalence of traditional cardio‐vascular risk factors (diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, smoking, obesity, andsedentary lifestyle) in adult patients with CoA.
Methods: Patients with CoA who were registered at the ACHD clinic in Gothenburgwere asked to participate in a comprehensive cardiovascular risk assessment. Thisassessment included a glucose tolerance test, cholesterol profile, ambulatory bloodpressure measurements, and a lifestyle questionnaire.
Results: A total of 72 patients participated. The median age was 43.5 years and 58.3%were men. Sixty‐six (91.7%) patients had ≥one cardiovascular risk factor and 40.3%had ≥three risk factors. Three (4.2%) patients were newly diagnosed with diabetesor impaired glucose tolerance. More than half of the patients had hyperlipidemia(n = 42, 58.3%) and 35 patients (48.6%) were overweight or obese. Only three (4.2%)patients smoked regularly. Of the 60 patients who underwent 24‐hour ambulatoryblood pressure measurement, 33 (55.0%) were hypertensive. Of the 30 patients withknown hypertension only 9 (30.0%) had well‐controlled blood pressure on ambula‐tory blood pressure measurement.
Conclusions: Cardiovascular risk factors among patients with CoA are prevalent. Thismay indicate a need for more aggressive screening strategies of traditional risk fac‐tors to minimize the risk of these patients also developing atherosclerotic disease.