A 5-year-old Siamese cat presented with acute regurgitation and vomiting. Multimodal imaging revealed a tortuous thoracic aorta causing extraluminal esophageal compression. This vascular anomaly shares features with a rare human syndrome known as dysphagia aortica. The absence of hypertensive cardiomyopathy suggested a congenital malformation, despite the delayed presentation. Endoscopy confirmed esophageal stenosis with ulcerative lesions secondary to a trichobezoar obstruction at the stenotic site. Conservative management led to clinical improvement. This report documents, to our knowledge, the first feline case of presumed dysphagia aortica of likely congenital origin, expanding the spectrum of vascular causes for esophageal obstruction.
Coquet et al. (Sun,) studied this question.