Well, it may vary person to person because mine was totally compressing my esophagus and basically choking me out. Not all people have all the same symptoms or experiences.

@pinkcarmen, I had no symptoms. It was only found incidentally because of my other congenital symptoms. In fact I would not had it repaired if it hadn’t been in the way- I had a large kink in my aorta and the ARSA just happened to be where the graft would end, so they had to move it. I had no rings, or aneurysm. I was told this is why it is rare- more patients with ARSA are like me- no symptoms and never know they have it. It is also why when diagnosed it’s probably not taken too seriously or investigated properly by some drs. But you know your body and symptoms- and yours is definitely impinging on other structures- keep reaching out to other places for more opinions. Have you had a CT angiogram? Or Swallow studies, I had MRI, and CT scans to really visualize mine, they were able to say for sure no ring and no other structure involvement- so more studies may help secure your diagnosis as well. Hope this helps!

Jeane