[Vascular ring: classification, clinical aspects, diagnosis and principles of surgical treatment]

In the period between 1978 and 1989 operations were conducted on 56 patients with symptoms of the vascular ring (VR). The diagnosis of the disease was established on grounds of the clinical picture and the results of esophagography and angiocardiography. Double arch of the aorta (DAA) was recognized in 28 patients, anomalies of the right arch of the aorta (RAA) with VR formation in 25, and anomalies of the left arch of the aorta (LAA) in 3 patients. In 29 patients VR was combined with another congenital heart disease (CHD): with Fallot's tetralogy (FT) in 9 patients, with ventricular septal defect (VSD) in 4, and with coarctation of aorta (CA) in one patient. RAA anomalies were combined with FT in 6, with VSD in 4, and with CA in one patient. LAA anomalies were combined with VSD in 3 and with CA in one patient. VR separation was carried out through left anterior posterolateral thoracotomy in 91% of cases and through right thoracotomy in the remaining cases. In combination of VR with CHD the VR was corrected in one stage and then the CHD was corrected under extracorporeal circulation. Combination of RAA with FT allowed anastomosis with the use of a divided proximal stump of the left arch of the aorta to be established in 6 cases. In the group of 56 patients one died from hemorrhage during the operation. The late-term results are good.