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Case Reports
. 2020 Jan-Mar;30(1):81-83.
doi: 10.4103/ijri.IJRI_273_19. Epub 2020 Mar 30.

Interrupted aortic arch: A case report

Andrea Franconeri  1   2 , Francesco Ballati  1   2 , Maurizio Pin  2   3 , Luisa Carone  1 , Gian M Danesino  1 , Adele Valentini  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Interrupted aortic arch: A case report

Andrea Franconeri et al. Indian J Radiol Imaging. 2020 Jan-Mar.

Abstract

Interrupted aortic arch diagnosed in adult age is a rare entity, with only a few cases published in the literature. Most of them are classified as type A interrupted aortic arch and differential diagnosis is associated with severe chronic coarctation. We present a case of a 52-year-old woman accessed to the emergency department for chest and right upper limb pain that increased in the last days. She underwent a computed tomography angiogram showing interruption of the aortic arch, distal to left subclavian artery origin, large bilateral collateral vessels connecting subclavian arteries to descending aorta with multiple voluminous aneurysms, a bicuspid aortic valve, dilatated tubular segment of ascending thoracic aorta, and a suspected atrial septal defect. A nonsystematic literature review regarding these conditions has been performed.

Keywords: Aneurysm; bicuspid aortic valve; coarctation of the aorta; computed tomography angiogram; interrupted aortic arch.

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Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Maximum intensity projection of the reformatted sagittal image of the thoracic aorta shows interruption of the aortic arch just distal to the subclavian artery origin (black arrow), interruption of descending aorta (white arrow) and fibrotic and stretched arterial duct (curved white arrow)
Figure 2(<b>A and B</b>)
Figure 2(A and B)
(A) Sagittal volume-rendered-image shows cranial (black arrow) and caudal (white arrow) sites of interruption, the fibrotic and stretched arterial duct (curved arrow), enlarged internal mammary arteries (arrowheads) and aneurysms of collateral vessels of left subclavian artery (asterisks). (B) Posterior coronal volume-rendered-image shows right aneurysm (asterisk) proper of a subclavian artery collateral vessel, large bilateral collateral vessels connecting subclavian arteries with descending segment of the thoracic aorta (white arrows) and enlarged internal mammary arteries (arrowheads)
Figure 3
Figure 3
(A-C): (A) Maximum intensity projection of the reformatted coronal image of maximum craniocaudal extension of the right aneurysm (asterisk), the right subclavian artery (RSA) and the dissection flap of the collateral artery proximal to the aneurysm (white arrow). (B) Reformatted axial image shows enlarged ascending aorta (marked a) measured at the level of pulmonary artery trunk. (C) Reformatted view through the plane of the aortic valve shows bicuspid aortic valve morphology (black arrows). LA, left atrium; RA, right atrium
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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