What is a vascular ring anomaly?

A vascular ring is a malformation of the aortic arch anatomy, where vessels partly or completely encircle the trachea and esophagus.

How serious is a vascular ring?

Although rare, abnormal formations of the blood vessels called vascular rings can compress the trachea, esophagus, or both. While some vascular rings may never cause problems, others can trigger symptoms ranging from mild to life threatening.

Is a vascular ring a heart defect?

A vascular ring is a type of congenital (present at birth) defect. This happens when normal vessels are in the wrong place. This may cause pressure on the esophagus or airway. View a graphic summary of vascular rings.

What are the symptoms of a vascular ring?

Signs and symptoms of vascular rings

  • Noisy or labored breathing, especially with eating.
  • Difficulty eating and swallowing: the child regurgitates milk or other food.
  • Dysphagia: the child feels like something is “stuck in the throat”; the child keeps choking or feels like he or she is choking on food.
  • Persistent cough.

What causes a vascular ring?

In general, a vascular ring occurs when a child’s aorta — the body’s largest blood vessel — or its branches form abnormally, so that they encircle and constrict the trachea and usually the esophagus. This compression can cause breathing and swallowing problems. There are several types of vascular rings.

What is a vascular ring in a baby?

With vascular ring, some of the arches and vessels that should have changed into arteries or disappeared are still present when the baby is born. These arches form a ring of blood vessels, which encircles and presses down on the windpipe (trachea) and esophagus. Several different types of vascular ring exist.

What causes vascular rings?

Are vascular rings genetic?

Vascular rings have not been described to be heritable outside of syndromic genetic conditions, most classically 22q11 deletion syndrome. The TBX1 gene is located within the critical region of 22q11 and is associated with cardiac defects.

How do they fix a vascular ring?

The goal of surgery is to split the vascular ring and relieve pressure on the surrounding structures. The procedure is usually done through a small surgical cut in the left side of the chest between the ribs. Changing the child’s diet may help relieve the digestive symptoms of vascular ring.

What is the most common vascular ring?

The two most common types of complete vascular rings are double aortic arch and right aortic arch with left ligamentum arteriosum. These make up 85-95% of the cases.

How rare is a double aortic arch?

Vascular rings make up a small percentage of all congenital heart problems. Of these, a little more than half are caused by double aortic arch. The condition occurs equally in males and females.

What causes vascular ring?