[Non-recurrent inferior laryngeal nerve (15 operative cases)].

During surgery on the right thyroid lobe, 15 cases of non-recurrence of the inferior laryngeal nerve were observed, among which two types of equal frequency. Embryologic data explain why this abnormality is always associated with an abnormal origin of the right subclavian artery, directly from the aortic arch. The right subclavian artery generally passes behind the oesophagus in these cases. These 15 cases represent 0,79% of the 1889 cases studied during a short period (1971-1978).