Various surgical techniques have been developed for the repair of an interrupted aortic arch. However, tension and Gothic arch formation at the anastomotic site have remained major problems for these techniques: Excessive tension causes arch stenosis and left main bronchus compression, and Gothic arch configuration is related to cardiovascular complications. To resolve these problems, we adopte...

Atresia of the aortic arch is a rare congenital heart defect with a high mortality when associated with other intracardiac defects. Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) provides the exact anatomy of the aortic arch and collateral circulation and is useful to diagnose-associated aortic arch anomalies. This report describes the case of a 4-year-old child with atresia of the aortic arch, referred to o...

This investigation presents additional evidence for the hemodynamic influence of intracardiac anomalies on the development of the aortic arch, based on measurements of different parts of the great vessels. Criteria are given to define the normal aortic arch and the different anomalies of the aortic arch, such as interruption, atresia, tubular hypoplasia, hypoplasia, abnormal long segment and ju...

AIMS To investigate the role of the geometry of the aortic arch in resting hypertension after successful repair of coarctation (CoA). METHODS AND RESULTS 105 patients (15.3+/-6 years) with successful repair of aortic CoA underwent blood pressure (BP) measurements at rest and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the aortic arch and left ventricle. Three categories of aortic arch shape were defi...

Double aortic arch (DAA) is a congenital vascular anomaly. The diagnosis was difficult till the child was symptomatic, and other causes were ruled out. We present the interesting images of a child of respiratory distress because of tracheal compression from DAA.

OBJECTIVE To analyze our experience in the surgical correction of transposition of the great arteries associated with aortic arch obstruction. METHOD From January 1998 to December 2005 we performed 223 arterial switch operations for transposition of the great arteries; 21 (9.4%) patients had associated aortic arch obstruction. Aortic arch anatomy showed: localized aortic coarctation (n=10) an...

BACKGROUND Aortic dissection (AD) represents a clinically uncommon aortic pathology which predicts a dismal prognosis if not promptly treated. In acute Debakey type I AD (ADIAD), aortic lesion extends from aortic root to even distal abdominal aorta among which aortic arch and its three main branches still remain a great surgical challenge for repair and reconstruction. Several decades have witn...

Isolated atresia of the aortic arch is rare. In aortic arch atresia the arch is continuous, yet a segment of it is atretic so that apart from a collateral circulation, communication with the lower aortic segment is absent. Haemodynamically, the condition is similar to complete interruption of the aortic arch. To our knowledge only 10 cases of isolated aortic arch atresia or interruption have be...