Introduction: Most patients with repaired coarctation of the aorta (CoA) live normal lives and have good physical<br />performance. However, even after a successful surgical intervention, long-term cardiovascular risks including left ventricular<br />hypertrophy remain. The aim of the study was to identify factors associated with increased left ventricular mass (LVM) in<br />patients with surgically repaired CoA.<br />Methods: Consecutive cardiovascular magnetic resonance investigations in 51 patients with surgically repaired CoA (age<br />37+/-15 years, age at intervention 9.7 ± 6.8 years, 45% female) were reviewed. LVM was measured and indexed to body<br />surface area. The association between increased LVM index and clinical, anatomic and functional variables was investigated<br />with logistic regression analysis.<br />Results: In this population, 14/51 (27%) patients had a LVM index above normal limits. Factors associated with an increased<br />LVM index in univariate analysis were higher systolic blood pressure (odds ratio (OR) = 1.04, 95 % confidence interval<br />(CI) 1.00-1.08, p = 0.03), descending aortic diameter (OR = 1.48, CI 1.14-1.90, p = 0.003) and more than mild aortic valve<br />disease or previous aortic valve intervention (OR = 15.1, CI 2.50-48.4, p=0.002), but not diastolic blood pressure, diameter of<br />ascending aorta, diameter or ratio of CoA, velocity in descending aorta, smoking or bicuspid aortic valve (p > 0.05 for all). In<br />multivariate analysis, only systolic blood pressure (p = 0.05) and aortic valve disease (p = 0.006) remained significant, yielding<br />R2 = 0.47, p = 0.002 for the model.<br />Conclusion: Increased LVM is a common late finding after surgically repaired CoA. This study showed that LVM was<br />associated with modifiable factors; systolic blood pressure and aortic valve disease. As most patients are young, and<br />increased LVM will eventually affect ventricular function, close attention to blood pressure optimization may be of particular<br />importance in the surgically repaired CoA population.