Arterio-esophageal communication from a ruptured aberrant right subclavian artery aneurysm - CT diagnosis

We report the computed tomography(CT) findings of an arterio-esophageal communication from an aberrant right subclavian artery aneurysm which had eroded into the esophagus. Pathologic correlation is provided. To our knowledge, this is the first CT demonstration of an aberrant right subclavian aneurysm causing a communication to the esophagus reported in the literature. Previously, one CT case of a left aberrant subclavian artery aneurysm that had ruptured into the esophagus, had been described. The characteristic location of the aberrant vessel with aneurysmal dilatation and the presence of abnormal air identified within the wall of the aneurysm on CT, helped establish the diagnosis antemortem. (C) Elsevier Science Inc., 1998.