Extremely Rare Case of Vascular Dysphagia in an Elderly Man

A 68-year-old man was admitted to our hospital for chronic dysphagia for solid foods and weight loss. Clinical examination on hospital admission did not show any significant alterations. Specifically, neither lymphadenopathy or thyroid enlargement, abdominal masses, or skin abnormalities that suggested connective tissue disorders were found. Furthermore, chest radiography performed at admission did not show any abnormality (Figure 1). The barium esophagram, a highly evaluable investigation in patients with suspected esophageal dysphagia, demonstrated an extrinsic compression on the posterior wall of the upper thoracic esophagus (Figure 2). Subsequently, 3-dimensional contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (Figure 3) showed the right-sided aortic arch, from which an abnormal vascular branch originated, encircling the …