Dysphagia Lusoria: A Case of an Aberrant Right Subclavian Artery and a Bicarotid Trunk

Abstract

Dysphagia Lusoria is dysphagia secondary to an aberrant right subclavian artery that has a retroesophageal course. Adachi and Williams categorized aortic arch anomalies, showing that the right subclavian artery arising in this fashion (as the final branch of the descending aortic arch) is one of the more common. However, this very rarely coexists with a bicarotid trunk. We present such a case as it is manifested in a 36-year-old lady complaining of marked weight loss and dysphagia. The diagnosis remained elusive until a CT scan of the chest was performed; angiography further delineated the pathology. It is believed that the combination of the common carotid origins with the retroesophageal course of the aberrant vessel more frequently accounts for symptoms in the absence of an aneurysm of the origin of the aberrant vessel. Several techniques to manage the aberrant vessel have been described in the literature, but we favoured open ligation and transposition to the right carotid artery.