We present a patient with a vascular ring due to a remnant vessel.A six-month-old boy was admitted because of acute respiratory failure.His respiratory distress was so severe that we made endotracheal intubation, and started mechanical ventilation.In spite of usual treatments for severe asthmatic attack, his respiratory state did not improve.
Deviated and unclear tracheal translucency on chest roentgenogram suggested congenital tracheostenosis or compression by great vessels.Through a close examination of the enhanced chest CT, we found a diverticulum of right descending aorta and a very fine remnant vessel that connected left pulmonary artery to right descending aorta.So he was made a diagnosis of vascular ring of Type HI Alb defined by Stewart.After division of the remnant vessel, his respiratory state improved.
We must be careful that fixed expiratory wheezes in an infant indicate organic lesion of respiratory tract.
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