[Intrathoracic compressions of the respiratory tract due to a double aortic arch in children].

Overall, twenty-eight children with intrathoracic airway compressions (IAC) caused by double aortic arch (DAA), who ranged 1.5 months to eleven years old, were kept under medical surveillance. The following respiratory symptoms were found to dominate the clinical picture in the above pediatric patient population: stridor, dyspnea, bouts of asphyxia, orthopnea, with secondary bronchopulmonary complications having been disclosed in all. The diagnosis of IAC and its complications in DAA was based on findings from thoracic roentgenography, esophagography, digital subtraction angiography, and tracheobronchoscopy. This pathology surgical correction indications were unquestionable. The policy has been worked out of treating DAA-associated IAK through surgery, with particular regard to the anatomical variants of the defect under question and its complications.