Anomalous Origin of the Right Main Bronchus From the Esophagus

Abstract

We report a case of a female neonate with anomalous main right bronchus origin from the esophagus. After uneventful pregnancy and spontaneous term delivery the patient developed dyspnea and respiratory insufficiency. Initial chest X-ray (Fig 1A) revealed mediastinal shift to the right and diffuse ventilation deficiency of the right lung. Multidetector computed tomography (Fig 1B, arrow) has diagnosed an anomalous origin of the right main bronchus from the distal part of the esophagus. The diagnosis was confirmed by the esophagography (Fig 1C, arrow). The patient was stabilized and the right bronchus was reimplanted by a radical surgical procedure. The foregut malformations with bronchopulmonary communication are rare developmental anomalies. Anomalous origin of the main bronchus from the esophagus is even rarer, and is known as “esophageal lung” or “total pulmonary sequestration” [1]. In our patient, threedimensional computed tomographic reconstructions offered sufficient information for a successful surgical repair.