Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with rare double aortic arch heart defect treated with surgery
By Vianna, Maria L & Krahwinkel, D J·Published in Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association·2004·Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Double aortic arch in a dog.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 6-month-old Labrador Retriever was brought in for difficulty swallowing and coughing, which were caused by a rare heart defect known as a double aortic arch. This condition occurs when the blood vessels around the esophagus and trachea develop incorrectly, leading to pressure on these structures. The dog underwent surgery to correct the defect, and thankfully, the surgery was successful. After the procedure, the dog recovered well and showed no further issues with swallowing or breathing.
People also search for: dog difficulty swallowing · Labrador double aortic arch surgery · dog coughing after eating
Abstract
Vascular ring anomalies are developmental anomalies of the thoracic great vessels resulting in complete or partial encircling of the esophagus and the trachea by a vascular ring formation. Persistent right aortic arch with left ligamentum arteriosum accounts for 95% of vascular ring anomalies in dogs. The dog in this report had a double aortic arch, which is a type 4 vascular ring anomaly. Double aortic arch is a rare congenital heart defect resulting from the improper development of the embryonic arches. The prognosis for dogs that have undergone surgery for correction of double aortic arches is generally regarded as poor. The dog in this report underwent surgery for correction of double aortic arches and recovered without dilation or motility disorders of the esophagus. Results indicate that small animals that undergo early surgical correction of double aortic arches with relief of esophageal constriction can have a good prognosis. To the authors' knowledge, there have been no previous reports of dogs that have survived long enough to be discharged from the hospital after surgical correction of double aortic arches.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15521444/