Echocardiographic diagnosis of right aortic arch with a retroesophageal segment and left descending aorta

Abstract

Two-dimensional echocardiography has been used extensively to assess aortic arch anatomy in infants and children. Echocardiographic techniques for examination of left and right aortic arch, coarctation and interruption of the aorta, aortic aneurysm and double aortic arch have been well described. 1,2 Right aortic arch with retroesophageal segment and left descending aorta, an unusual form of vascular ring, has been described using angiography, barium swallow and computed axial tomography. 3–5 In this report, we describe 2-dimensional (2-D) echocardiographic findings in an infant with this unusual form of vascular ring.