A Case of Left Recurrent Inferior Laryngeal Nerve with Right Sided Aortic Arch

Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology 2017;33(1):57-59.
Published online May 30, 2017.

Kyoung Hun Kim;Nam Young Kim;Guk Haeng Lee;Ik Joon Choi

우측 대동맥활이 동반된 좌측 반회하후두신경 1예

김경헌;김남영;이국행;최익준

Abstract

A non-recurrent laryngeal nerve on the left side is a rare anomaly which is reported in 0.04% and it is associated with abnormal developments of the aortic arch during embryogenesis. Although the possibility is extremely low, it is important to consider the possible existence of a non-recurrent laryngeal nerve to prevent a nerve injury during thyroidectomy. We experienced a 42 year-old male with left thyroid papillary cancer who had right side aortic arch and aberrant left subclavian artery. Even though we found that this patient had a recurrent laryngeal nerve, we present this case of the right aortic arch with an aberrant left subclavian artery variation with a brief review of literature.

Key Words: Right sided aortic arch, Recurrent laryngeal nerve