The aorta serves as the systemic outflow tract from the heart and it is subject to anatomical variation in the adult, in part, to a complicated set of temporospatial and morphogenetic interactions. The occurrence of an aberrant right subclavian artery (arteria subclavia dextra lusoria, ARSA) is reported to occur with a frequency of approximately 0.1-25.0%. We report the occurrence of ARSA in a cadaver from a 91-year-old male during a routine dissection of the thorax. Features included a bicarotid trunk, normal left subclavian, but a right subclavian that branched from the terminal portion of the descending aorta. The ARSA was positioned in a retroesophageal and retrotracheal location. However, the person was asymptomatic with respect to the ARSA during his life according to medical records. Animations were generated to demonstrate the spatial relationships of the ARSA in this individual. Additional animations were generated to depict embryological relationships that were likely associated with the formation of ARSA in this cadaver. To our knowledge, this is the first time an animation of ARSA has been presented.
