title: [When an encircling aortic arch anomaly hides behind respiratory and digestive symptoms in children].
abstract: Aortic arch anomalies are relatively frequent and account for 15 to 20 % of all congenital cardiovascular malformations. They can be discovered in case of symptoms of airway or esophageal compression such as dysphagia, chronic cough, stridor, wheezing and recurrent respiratory infections. We report the cases of two children with encircling aortic arch anomaly. The 3-year-old boy had complained of chronic respiratory symptoms such as laryngitis and asthma since the age of 4 months. The 20-month-old boy presented with inter-mittent stridor, dysphagia and frequent vomiting. In both patients, the cervico-thoracic CT-scan showed a right aortic arch with retro-esophageal left subclavian artery and Kommerell's diverticulum. Surgery was curative. The understanding of normal and abnormal embryologic development of the aortic arch, and the knowledge of the different types of vascular compression and their clinical signs are mandatory for the early diagnosis and adequate treatment of such malformations.
authors.affiliation: Pédiatrie, Université de Liège, Belgique.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Solowianiuk
authors.affiliation: Service de Cardio-Pédiatrie, CHU Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Soulatges
authors.affiliation: Service de Pédiatrie, CHU de Liège, Site NDB, Liège, Belgique.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Farhat
authors.affiliation: Service de Pédiatrie, CHU de Liège, Site NDB, Liège, Belgique.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Holzki
authors.affiliation: Service de Pédiatrie, CHU de Liège, Site NDB, Liège, Belgique.
authors.forename: M-C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Seghaye
keywords:  Dysphagia;  Kommerell’s diverticulum ;  Respiratory symptoms ;  Retro; Encircling aortic arch anomaly ; esophageal left subclavian artery 