Double aortic arch is a very rare congenital vascular anomaly that causes tracheal and esophageal compression. In this study, clinical and radiological evaluations of five patients, four girls and one boy, diagnosed as double aortic arch between 1996-2002, were done. The average age was 7,2 months (4-11) and the average follow-up duration was 50 months. Four patients were admitted with the symptoms of respiratory distress, recurrent lung infection and feeding problems. One patient was asymptomatic. The patients were evaluated with plain chest X-ray, barium esophagogram, echocardiography, angiography and thorax magnetic resonance imaging. There was an accompanying congenital cardiopathy in two patients. Tetralogy of Fallot was seen in one patient, and PDA in the other. Surgical division of the left smaller arch was applied to the four patients. There was a complete recovery from the respiratory distress, cough and feeding problems in three patients. Although frequency and severity were decreased, expiratory wheezing continued in the patient with obliterative bronchiolitis.

Keywords: çift arkus aorta, double aortic arch