A 63 year old man comes to the emergency room with back pain, weakness and shortness of breath. On examination, he has an aneurysm of the abdominal aorta at the aortic hiatus of the diaphragm. Which of the following pairs of structures would most likely be compressed?

A.) Vagus nerve and azygos vein
B.) Esophagus and vagus nerve
C.) Azygos vein and thoracic duct
D.) Thoracic duct and vagus nerve
E.) Inferior vena cava and phrenic nerve.

It’s C.) Azygous vein and thoracic duct.

The aortic hiatus transmits the azygous vein and the thoracic duct. The vagus passes through the esophageal hiatus with the esophagus and the right phrenic nerve comes through the diaphragm with the vena cava.

Mnemonic in regards to this problem? The aorta is found between a duck and a goose (thoracic duct and azygous vein).

(via White-Coat)