Dysphagia lusoria: current surgical approach.

The presence of an anomalous right subclavian artery in a patient was a cause of dysphagia and ill-defined upper back pain. Her problem was ideally managed by the median sternotomy approach. With this exposure, the artery is divided and its origin from the aortic arch oversewn. Relocating the artery into the right upper mediastinum and anastomosis with or without a segmental graft to the aortic arch restores extremity circulation and eliminates the dysphagia.