title: [Vascular rings: airway obstruction in children. Case series].
abstract: In children, extrinsic compression of the trachea is usually due to vascular origin, and less frequently caused by tumors, heart diseases, cysts and abscesses. Vascular rings are congenital anomalies of the aortic arch and its branches that compress the trachea and/or esophagus to varying degrees. Although these congenital anomalies are not frequent, they constitute a major cause of respiratory distress in children. Thus, these anomalies should be included in the differential diagnosis of obstruction of the upper airway. Symptoms include stridor, respiratory distress and dysphagia of different intensity. The high degree of clinical suspicion is the most important factor for diagnosis, fail to do so can cause a significant delay between symptom onset and correct diagnosis. We present four patients with different types of vascular rings in order to describe clinical manifestations, diagnosis and treatment.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Endoscopia Respiratoria, Hospital de Pediatría Prof. DR. Juan P. Garrahan, Argentina. adrianzanetta67@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Adrián
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zanetta
authors.forename: Giselle
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cuestas
authors.forename: Hugo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rodríguez
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tiscornia
mesh_terms: D000402:Airway Obstruction / Q000209:etiology*; D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000002:abnormalities*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D014132:Trachea