Balloon angioplasty of critical coarctation in a 970-gram premature infant.

We describe a 970-gram infant born prematurely at 28 weeks gestation. On the third day of life, she presented in heart failure with Shone's syndrome and severe coarctation of the aorta. Despite initiation of intravenous prostaglandins, she developed progressive severe biventricular dysfunction and acidosis. Balloon angioplasty of the coarctation was successfully performed on the fifth day of life, with a dramatic improvement in ventricular function. At seven weeks of age, after improvement of ventricular function, she underwent surgical resection of the coarctation and arch advancement. At six months of age she is thriving and developing normally.