Child can presents with intermittent leg pains, headache, occasional history of shortness of breath.

Cardiac causes are extremely rare for leg pains in children.Most common causes of frequent leg pains/ claudication that is related to pediatric heart diseases is known as coarctation of aorta.

In this cardiac disease, there is severe obstruction of artery that provides blood to the body especially lower body like abdomen, pelvis, legs etc.

Due to lack of blood supply to lower legs, child gets leg pains on exertion and early tiredness. Headache is due to high blood pressure that sometimes can be associated with bleed in the brain.

Child can be freed from his symptoms only by treating his cardiac disease. Medical management in the form of medications can be done only for treating high blood pressure.

Please refer to Interventional procedure section for detailed description of balloon dilatation/stenting of COA.