Surgical treatment of vascular ring: a report of 6 cases

혈관륜의 수술체험6례 보

Developmental anomalies of the aortic arch, commonly known as vascular rings, are relatively rare congenital vascular anomalies which can compress the trachea and esophagus. We have presented six patients with surgically treated vascular rings at Seoul National University Hospital during the period June 1970 through May 1984. Two patients had double aortic arches and four patients had right aortic arch with aberrant left subclavian artery and left ligamentum arteriosum. Four patients had symptoms relating vascular ring and two patients were detected incidentally during diagnostic evaluation of symptomatic intracardiac defects. Associated congenital malformations were seen in four patients. The operative approach was through left thoracotomy in three patients and median sternotomy in remaining three patients associated with congenital cardiac defects. There were no postoperative deaths with excellent result in preoperative symptomatic patients. To our knowledge, successful surgical repair of vascular ring has been reported only once in the Korean literature.