April 7, 2011
School of Medicine, Kochi
 

Dr. Venkateshan M., postgraduate trainee in the Department of Radiology at the Amrita School of Medicine won the best poster award at the recently concluded Annual Conference of the Indian Radiological and Imaging Association, Kerala Chapter.
 

He won the award for his poster titled MDCT in Aortic Arch Anomalies.
 

MDCT is multidetector computerized tomography. Having emerged as a major diagnostic method for the assessment of abnormalities of the aortic arch, this technology facilitates the detailed study of the anatomy of vascular structures.
 

“Continued advances in MDCT have facilitated evaluation of complex anatomical structures seen with various vascular anomalies,” shared Dr. Venkateshan.
 

The aortic arches are a series of six-paired embryological vascular structures that give rise to several major arteries. Congenital aortic arch anomalies arise from the abnormal development of the embryonic pharyngeal arch system.
 

Some of these anomalies create a “vascular ring” around the trachea and esophagus, which may result in respiratory obstruction and dysphagia.
 

Dr. Venkateshan’s poster depicted the MDCT findings for various aortic arch anomalies. A few such findings from the poster are listed below.
 

“Left aortic arch with aberrant right subclavian artery is an anomaly which occurs in 1 in 200 individuals. Most cases are asymptomatic; however, typical presentation is dysphagia lusoria, an abnormal condition characterized by difficulty in swallowing.”
 

“In the case of right aortic arch with aberrant left subclavian artery, right-sided aortic arch results from involution of the left fourth arch. Retro-oesophageal left subclavian artery arises from the aortic diverticulum originating from the posterior right aortic arch.”
 

“Right aortic arch with mirror image branching is almost always associated with severe congenital heart disease, particularly tetralogy of fallot.”
 

Cervical aortic arch is a rare anomaly where an aortic arch may be found in the neck region.”
 

“Double aortic arch results from persistence of the embryonic double arch and is the most common cause of symptomatic vascular ring which may cause respiratory obstruction and dysphagia.”