Assessment of interrupted aortic arch with magnetic resonance angiography.

A 22-year-old man was referred to our cardiology department for investigation of hypertension. At presentation his blood pressure was 170/100 mmHg in both arms, and heart rate was 74 beats/min. The pulses were equal over both upper extremities, but bilateral femoral and popliteal pulses were extremely weak and the dorsalis pedis and anterior tibial pulses were not palpable. His past history was unremarkable except for hypertension. There was a II/VI systolic ejection murmur in the left second intercostal area and left scapular region in the back. Transthoracic echocardiography showed concentric left ventricular hypertrophy with normal ventricular function. Magnetic resonance (MR) angiography showed interruption of the descending aorta after the branching of the left subclavian artery (Figure 1). Dilated intercostal, intramammary and thoracodorsal arteries with