Dilated Cardiomyopathy: An Unusual Presentation of Aortic Coarctation in an Infant

Abstract

Coarctation of the aorta commonly presents in infancy as congestive heart failure, or later in childhood as hypertension or as a heart murmur. However, we experienced a unique infant case of isolated coarctation presenting with acute decompensation of a dilated cardiomyopathy, which recovered completely 8 months postoperatively. Our report highlights the previously unreported presentation of coarctation in infancy as a dilated cardiomyopathy. It also implies that before we label any patient presenting with a dilated cardiomyopathy as an idiopathic cardiomyopathy, we must exclude all possible specific causes of myocardial dysfunction because many such specific cardiomyopathies are curable and very rewarding, just like our patient.