title: Late-onset dysphagia lusoria assessed by 3-dimensional computed tomography of an aortic arch abnormality.
abstract: Symptomatic vascular rings causing late-onset dysphagia (dysphagia lusoria) are quite unusual in adults. We present a 42-year-old woman with a 1-year history of dysphagia from a right-sided aortic arch with an aberrant left subclavian artery and left-sided ligamentum arteriosum. Using a helical CT scan of the chest and a three-dimensional reconstruction software, her anatomic abnormality was completely delineated. Arch aortogram confirmed the anomaly. The patient underwent a left posteriolateral thoracotomy. Intraoperative findings correlated precisely with the preoperative reconstruction data. Division of the ligamentum resulted in a complete decompression of the esophagus and resolution of the patient's symptoms.
authors.affiliation: Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, USA.
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Koullias
authors.forename: D P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Korkolis
authors.forename: W B
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Iams
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Elefteriades
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000601:surgery; D001018:Aortic Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000151:congenital / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery; D003680:Deglutition Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*; D014656:Vascular Surgical Procedures