Esophageal carcinoma with nonrecurrent inferior laryngeal nerve

Occurrence of a nonrecurrent inferior laryngeal nerve is quite rare. We present the case of a 70-year-old man with carcinoma of the esophagus. An abnormal right subclavian artery was detected preoperatively. This anomaly suggested that the right inferior laryngeal nerve branched directly from the vagal trunk. A carcinoma of the esophagus was resected, and lymph nodes were dissected. The right inferior laryngeal nerve was fully preserved, and the esophagus was primarily repaired.