Double aortic arch incl. trachea

3D Model

Double aortic arch is an abnormal formation of the aorta, the large artery that carries blood from the heart to the rest of the body. It is congenital; present from birth.

Normally, the aorta develops from one of several curved pieces of tissue (arches). As babies develop in the womb, the arches split into several parts. The body breaks down some of the arches, while others form into arteries. A normally developed aorta is a single arch that leaves the heart and moves leftward.

In double aortic arch, some of the arches that should have disappeared are still present at birth in addition to the normal arch. Babies with a double aortic arch have an aorta that is made up of two vessels instead of one. The two parts to the aorta have smaller arteries branching off of them

Model created by: Dr. Monique R.M. Jongbloed, Bert J. Wisse Textures and optimisation of the model for web: Anna Sieben Content Reviewer: Dr Monique Jongbloed