ABSTRACT
Objective:To study the clinical characteristics of double aortic arch (DAA) combined with aortoesophageal fistula (AEF), and summarize the diagnosis and treatment experience.Methods:Retrospective analysis was performed on the diagnosis and treatment of a newborn with hemorrhagic shock caused by DAA combined with AEF in the Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center. The key searching words included "double aortic arch", "aortoesophageal fistula", "vascular ring", "newborn or neonate", and "infant, newborn". The relevant reports were retrieved from databases of CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, PubMed, Springer Link, Google Scholar, Web of Science, Embase, Cochrane Library and OVID, to summarize the clinical features, diagnosis and treatment experience of neonates with DAA and AEF. The retrieval deadline was December 31, 2020.Results:A full-term female newborn was hospitalized for dyspnea immediately after birth, and failed to evacuate from the ventilator for several times. The patient was fed with nasogastric tube and transferred to our hospital because of hemorrhagic shock occurring in 32 days after birth, and gastrointestinal bleeding occurred repeatedly with the maximum bleeding volume reaching 200 ml/time. DAA was diagnosed by cardiac ultrasound and CT, AEF hemorrhage was finally confirmed by gastroscopy, aortography and operation. DAA correction and esophagus repair were successfully performed, and the infant recovered well after the operation. At 9-month old, the infant grew and developed well. At present, no reports of DAA combined with AEF neonates have yet to be published in medical literatures in China. Seven English language literatures included 7 cases of AEF complicated with DAA in neonatal period, 5 cases survived and 2 cases died have so far been reported. All patients have a long history of gastric tube indwelling.Conclusions:The incidence of DAA combined with AEF is rare in the newborn with respiratory and swallowing difficulties as the first manifestation. The disease symptoms progressed rapidly, and life-threatening digestive tract hemorrhage may occur, which often requires surgical treatment. Prolonged gastric tube retention should be avoided in DAA children to prevent the occurrence of AEF.