Dissecting aortic aneurysm involving an anomalous right subclavian artery and isolated left vertebral artery: case report and review of the literature

A 54-year-old hypertensive woman was admitted with severe interscapular bac k pain. A chest radiograph showed marked widening of the mediastinum. Aorto graphy demonstrated a DeBakey type III, a thoracic aortic dissection and an anomalous right subclavian artery which was associated with an isolated le ft vertebral artery. The patient underwent aortic arch replacement with 5 b ranches and made an uneventful recovery. As far as we can determine, this i s the first reported occurrence of these anomalies together with acquired d isease of the aorta.