Anesthesia for repair of a pulmonary artery sling

Although they account for less than 1 % of operable congenital cardiac anomalies,' vascular rings are not an uncommon cause of airway obstruction in children .² Approximately 5% of vascular rings are caused by an aberrant left pulmonary artery (PA), which originates from the right PA, compresses the trachea and/or right main-stem bronchus as it passes from right to left between the trachea and esophagus, and finally enters the left hilum (Fig 1). This condition is rarely present in adults. A case is presented of an adult who required correction of this congenital abnormality. The anesthetic course was also complicated by other congenital abnormalities that are associated with PA slings.