Dysphagia aortica is difficulty in swallowing caused by extrinsic compression of the esophagus due to an ectatic, tortuous, or aneurysmatic atherosclerotic thoracic aorta. This condition is very uncommon, and it is usually associated with old age, women with short stature, hypertension, and kyphosis. We report herein a case involving a patient with dysphagia who had an aortic aneurysm.

Posteroseptal accessory pathways are often associated with coronary sinus diverticula. These diverticula contain myocardial coats which serve as a bypass tract. We report a 54-year-old woman who underwent radiofrequency (RF) catheter ablation for Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) syndrome. The surface electrocardiography (ECG) demonstrated pre-excitation, indicating a posteroseptal accessory pathway. A catheter ablation via a transaortic approach failed to ablate the accessory pathway. Coronary sinus venography revealed the presence of a diverticulum near the ostium. An electrogram in the neck of the diverticulum showed the coronary sinus myocardial extension potential, which was successfully ablated by delivery of RF energy.

No abstract

We report a case of hypertensive heart failure with severe stenosis of the descending aorta. The patient had hypertension; however, he had not previously received any antihypertensive treatment. After receiving antihypertensive therapy for 2 weeks, he was admitted to our hospital for acute heart failure. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed severe arteriosclerotic stenosis of the descending aorta above the renal artery bifurcation. He underwent aortic resection and grafting. After surgery, his condition improved, and he was discharged. (Korean Circ J 2007;37:590-593)