Summary
Thrombosis of the great arteries rarely occurs in the neonate. We report a case of
thrombosis of the aortic arch, the brachiocephalic truncus, the left carotid and subclavian
arteries, seen in a one-day-old neonate. The clinical findings were at first misdiagnosed
as interrupted aortic arch syndrome, though, in retrospect echocardiography was very
suggestive of the correct diagnosis. On the basis of the histological examination
we assume, as the most likely cause for thrombosis, an aortitis in the prenatal period.
Following thrombectomy and Gore-Tex bypass from the ascending to the descending aorta,
combined with ligature of a PDA, the child developed a low output state and died on
the table. The postmortem examination revealed that the latter was due to multiple
infarcts of the left ventricular myocardium.
Key words
Thrombaortitis - Aortic arch - Congenital thrombaortitis
