Successful resection of esophageal carcinoma associated with double aortic arch: a case report

Double aortic arch (DAA) is an extremely rare vascular malformation which causes tracheal and esophageal compression, resulting in respiratory symptoms such as stridor and wheezing, or feeding problems such as dysphagia, usually during the first few months of life. In contrast, this disorder is rarely diagnosed in adults. We herein present an elderly case with thoracic esophageal carcinoma with DAA. To the best of our knowledge, this is only the second report of a successfully resected case of esophageal cancer associated with DAA in the English literature. Moreover, this is the first reported case of symptomatic DAA with esophageal carcinoma. Spiral computed tomography and three-dimensional reconstruction was very useful for preoperative assessment of the abnormal vessels.