Late‐onset dysphagia lusoria assessed by 3‐dimensional computed tomography of an aortic arch abnormality

Symptomatic vascular rings causing late‐onset dysphagia (dysphagia lusoria) are quite unusual in adults. We present a 42‐year‐old woman with a 1‐year history of dysphagia from a right‐sided aortic arch with an aberrant left subclavian artery and left‐sided ligamentum arteriosum. Using a helical CT scan of the chest and a three‐dimensional reconstruction software, her anatomic abnormality was completely delineated. Arch aortogram confirmed the anomaly. The patient underwent a left posteriolateral thoracotomy. Intraoperative findings correlated precisely with the preoperative reconstruction data. Division of the ligamentum resulted in a complete decompression of the esophagus and resolution of the patient's symptoms.