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Updated: Jun 28, 2025

Visualization and Analysis of Pharyngeal Arch Arteries using Whole-mount Immunohistochemistry and 3D Reconstruction
Published on: March 31, 2020
[Right aortic arch with mirror image branching : a rare cause of dysphagia]
Renzo Granato1, Arnaud Kerzmann1, Frédéric Chantraine2
1Service de Chirurgie cardiovasculaire et thoracique, CHU Liège, Belgique.
Abstract:
We report the case of a 36-year-old female whose dysphagia revealed a congenital anomaly of the thoracic aorta: the right aortic arch with mirror image branching. This is a rare embryonic developmental anomaly where the aorta wraps around the right bronchus and the supra-aortic trunks emerge from the arch in the opposite order to normal. Most of the patients are asymptomatic unless there is a significant compression of mediastinal structures. Major compression of the esophagus or trachea, aneurysmal disease, dissection of the thoracic aorta, or the presence of a Kommerell diverticulum larger than 2 cm may require a surgical repair. There is no standard treatment and it must be adapted to the clinical presentation and the anatomic configuration of each patient. Our patient did not receive any treatment for her condition.
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