RIGHT NONRECURRENT INFERIOR LARYNGEAL NERVE AND ARTERIA LUSORIA - THEDIAGNOSTIC AND THERAPEUTIC IMPLICATIONS OF AN ANATOMIC ANOMALY - REVIEW OF 17 CASES

The authors report 17 cases of a right non-recurrent inferior laryngea l n. (NRILN) observed during 15 years of practice of thyroid and parat hyroid surgery. In their last two cases, the existence of an aberrant right subclavian a., constantly associated with NRILN, was confirmed b y MRT angiography. On the basis of the literature and their own experi ence, the authors review the incidence of this double anomaly, its emb ryologic explanation and its anatomic and surgical importance. They st ress the diagnostic factors and the therapeutic implications, very dif ferent in children and adults, of a particular vascular anomaly whose outcome is little understood.