Aberrant right subclavian artery- suggested mechanism for esophageal foreign body impaction: Case report

Aberrant right subclavian artery (ARSA) is asymptomatic in most cases. This variant anatomy can cause dysphagia in elderly patients. Impaction of foreign body in the esophagus is rarely the presenting symptom of ARSA. We present an eighty four years old patient who first presented with esophageal foreign body impaction and was diagnosed with an aberrant right subclavian artery compressing the esophagus just below the site of impaction. We assume that the exact place of impaction was not incidental and that a relative narrowing of the esophagus caused by the vascular anomaly is responsible for this specific presentation.