Right-sided aorta: a cadaver report and brief discussion of human aortic arch anomalies.

We observed an unusual right-sided aorta during routine laboratory dissection. The short aortic arch passed to the right side of the esophagus and trachea and had four branches, from proximal to distal: left common carotid, right common carotid, right subclavian, left subclavian arteries. The ligamentum arteriosum connected the pulmonary trunk to the left subclavian artery and lay to the left of the esophagus and trachea. The left recurrent laryngeal nerve passed under the ligamentum arteriosum while the right recurrent laryngeal nerve passed under the aortic arch. The descending thoracic aorta was situated near the midline, anterior to the vertebral bodies; consequently, the right posterior intercostal arteries were shorter than normal. The large veins of the thorax and the other thoracic organs appeared normal.