What is double aortic arch?

Also known as: DAA, vascular ring anomaly

Normally, the aorta (the large blood vessel that carries blood out of the heart to the rest of the body) develops into one large vessel that arches to the left as it leaves the heart. When a double aortic arch (rare) is present, (however one of the 2 most common forms of vascular ring abnormality of the aortic arch system) two tubes develop which circle and compress the windpipe (trachea) and/or food pipe (esophagus).

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Reviewed by: Jack Wolfsdorf, MD, FAAP

This page was last updated on: 1/29/2019 3:21:13 PM