Mycotic Aneurysm of the Aortic Arch Presenting With Left Vocal Cord Palsy

We report a case of a 71-year-old man with a mycotic aneurysm of the aortic arch who presented with progressive hoarseness. Three weeks prior to this event the patient was admitted to an outside hospital in septic condition and was diagnosed with a mycotic abdominal aortic aneurysm. Resection of the infected abdominal aortic aneurysm with right axillofemoral and femoral-femoral bypass grafts was performed and the patient was discharged home on intravenous antibiotics. At our institution, the aortic arch aneurysm was treated with extensive debridement and replaced with a Dacron prosthesis under circulatory arrest with antegrade cerebral perfusion through the axillofemoral bypass. (C) 2013 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons