(See also Overview of Esophageal Obstructions.)
The esophagus is the hollow tube that leads from the throat (pharynx) to the stomach.
Dysphagia lusoria is a birth defect. However, the swallowing difficulty may not appear until childhood or later in life, because that is when degenerative changes occur in the abnormally formed blood vessel.
A barium swallow x-ray shows the compression, but angiography (injecting a blood vessel with an agent that can be seen on x-rays) is necessary for an accurate diagnosis of dysphagia lusoria.
Most people require no treatment, but surgical repair is sometimes done.