Vascular Ring

Nancy McDaniel M.D.

The heart in this defect has four chambers and four valves.

The defect is an abnormal branching pattern of the main blood vessel going to the body -- the aorta. In this defect, the aorta bends to the right. The artery that goes to the left arm and a connecting blood vessel (ductus arteriosus) form a circle that can constrict the breathing tube.

This defect can be corrected by detaching and then reattaching the blood vessel to relieve the constriction.

1. Right aortic arch
2. Retroesophageal anomalous left subclavian artery
3. Left-sided ductus arteriosus (posterior off of subclavian artery)

Normal Heart