A 3-Month-Old Girl with a Persistent Cough and Respiratory Distress
Answer 1
Chest radiograph.
A 1997 study by Pickhardt and colleagues involving 41 children with symptomatic vascular rings showed that none of the children had a normal chest radiograph; therefore, a normal radiograph can reliably exclude the diagnosis of vascular ring. Because comorbidity with infection is high, a CBC and respiratory panel alone cannot rule out the diagnosis of vascular ring. No ECG abnormalities are associated with vascular rings.
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