RETROESOPHAGEAL RIGHT SUBCLAVIAN ARTERY ORIGINATING FROM THE AORTIC-ARCH DISTAL AND DORSAL TO THE LEFT SUBCLAVIAN ARTERY

In the cadaver of a Japanese 79 year-old man a retroesophageal right s ubclavian artery was observed to be derived from the arch of the aorta slightly distal and dorsal to the left subclavian artery. Its origin formed Kommerell's arterial diverticulum (50 mm in circumference), and it passed between the esophagus and the vertebral column and continue d to the right to become the axillary artery. No right recurrent laryn geal nerve was observed. There was a right ansa subclavia around the s ubclavian artery. Although this anomaly is relatively rare, it is impo rtant as a cause of dysphagia lusoria.