Ligamentum Arteriosum

  • Etiology: remnant of ductus arteriosus, a fetal structure that allows blood to bypass the fetal lungs in utero by shunting blood from left pulmonary artery to descending aorta
  • Imaging: calcified on 13% of CT scans obtained in children, so calcification should be considered a normal and non-pathologic finding

Radiology Cases of Ligamentum Arteriosum

CT of calcified ligamentum arteriosum
Axial CT with contrast of the chest shows a linear crescent-shaped calcification just to the left of the trachea which appears to join the main pulmonary artery to the descending aorta. An outside institution misinterpreted this calcification as a fish bone perforating out of the esophagus and transferred the patient emergently to our institution.