Abstract
The high mortality in infants with pulmonary artery sling is due to the coexistence of this condition with tracheal stenosis, bronchial stenosis, or both. The association between pulmonary artery sling and long segment tracheal stenosis, which is called "ring-sling complex" is an uncommon and lethal congenital anomaly. A two-month-old boy with severe respiratory distress due to the ring-sling complex was transferred to our hospital. He underwent surgery three differrent times. The first operation was a left pulmonary arteriopexy. A tracheoplasty with a pericardial patch was performed as the 2nd operation. The narrowing of the trachea was due to complete cartilagenious rings. After this operation, his respiratory condition became somewhat better. But twelve days after the operation, suddenly developed respiratory difficulty and the pericardial patch ruptured. The third operation done was a esophageal wall tracheoplasty. However, he died three monthe after the first tracheoplasty. The operative procedures for the ring-sling complex and pulmonary artery slings reported in Japan were reviewed.
