The normal aorta has three branches from its arch, but variations in this pattern are not uncommon. Our interest was to correlate the documented statistics to the variants observed in our patients. This was done by randomly selecting 60 patients on whom arch aortograms were performed. Our patients did not demonstrate all of the variants described. There was close correlation between the documented values and our patients except for the aberrant right subclavian artery which was more than three times more common in our patients.

Wheezing in infants and under-five children may present a diagnostic problem as there are various aetiologies for this symptom. Diagnosis of asthma is often made as it is one of the causes of wheezing in children. It is however important to have taken a complete history, including allergy and appropriate diagnostic investigations. If the child’s symptoms do not improve despite appropriate therapy, a different diagnosis must be pursued. We report the case of a child who presented to us with wheezing and who did not respond to therapy.