Aortic arch interruption

What it is

A rare heart defect characterized by complete lack of anatomical continuity between the transverse aortic arch and the descending thoracic aorta. AAI should be distinguished anatomically from atresia of the aortic arch where continuity between these segments is achieved by an imperforate fibrous strand of various lengths.

Key facts

Prevalence

1-9 / 1 000 000 (at birth, Europe)

Age of onset

Infancy, Neonatal

Inheritance

Not applicable

Classified as

Morphological anomaly

Prevalence figures describe populations, not individuals, and are often estimates from a single study. Where the figure is an incidence or a birth prevalence, it says so.

Signs and symptoms

These ranges are how often a sign appears across everyone diagnosed, not a prediction for one person — most people have some of these and not others. Orphanet also records findings that are specifically absent in this disease; those are in the data but not listed here.

ICD-10 codes

ICD-10 has no distinct code for most rare diseases, so many are filed under the nearest available one. A shared code identifies the group, not this disease — the ORPHAcode above is what identifies it.

Related health topics

Reached through the ICD-10 categories this disease is filed under, so these describe the broader group rather than this disease specifically.

Cross-references