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aortic aneuryms....3.4 and 3.7

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Posted 7/2/2007 4:11 PM (GMT -8)
   I have been recently diagnosed with the above.. My primary doctor heard something funny....sure enough upon going to Cardio and taking MRI...there it is...am going for another MRI in August...watching BP...hopefully it will not get larger..anyone with this condition?   I would appreciat speaking with.

Thank You 

Posted 7/8/2007 3:42 PM (GMT -8)

Hey glimmer, welcome to healing well forum.  I am sorry you havent had any responses to your post here.  I have not ever heard of this condition so I cant be of any help...sorry.  Hopefully someone will be able to give you some insight/support regarding this. 

Take care :-)

Posted 7/11/2007 6:10 PM (GMT -8)
Hi Glimmer...I have the same aortic aneurym except I'm at 5.3 cmm. I've been followed for years and just found out today that it's time to repair it.Fun...I've already had 2 coarctations of the Aorta repaired. one at 12 yrs and the other at 35 yrs. I'm now 42 and we're going to replace the aortic valve at the same time. I was born with all this and grateful it can be fixed. It took a long time for mine to grow bigger, and yours may or may not change. Just keep up with your doctor visits and meds if they have you on any. My doc told me that the meds exstend the life of your aorta, keep the pressure down and not wear the walls out. A ct scan every year is a must to...take care of yourself.

Posted 7/17/2007 11:06 AM (GMT -8)
Glimmer,

You didn't say in your post whether you have an aneurysm in you ascending or descending aorta. I have them in both places as well as both Iliac arteries. An aneurysm of 3.4 to 3.7 is of moderate size. My cardio to me that he wouldn't fix mine until the Aortic aneurysms were 4.5 to 5.5 for the ascending and 5.5-6 for the descending and 3.0 for the iliac. My ascending is at 3.9, decending at 4.2 and the iliacs are at 2.9. I am looking at getting the iliac artery aneurysms fixed in November. At that time he will fix the descending aorta as well since those three are all in the same location.

One thing I have learned since I found out about having these is that it doesn't help to worry. The chances of them rupturing is pretty minute. The reason they don't fix them until they get to a certain size is because the risk of complications due to surgery is greater than the risk of rupture up to that point. As time has gone by more and more advances have been made in the placement of stents to repair these rather than full blown surgery and placement of a Dacron Graft.

My brother had an Ascending Aortic Aneurysm repaired using a Dacron graft a year ago and he is doing great. His was found by accident and was over 6 cm when it was diagnosed. The surgeon still waited 4 months before proceeding with surgery.

I have a CT scan done twice a year so they can keep an eye on mine. MRI's don't work for me because I have an AICD.

My father had an aneurysm that they watched for 50 years and they never did fix it because it just never got big enough to really worry about.

For me, having aneurysms hasn't been a big deal so far.

Pusher
Posted 8/21/2007 4:55 PM (GMT -8)
Hi
I had open heart surgery to repair an aortic root aneurysm in May 2005. My aneurysm was only 4.5 cm but I had unusual circumstances in that my sister died suddenly when her aneurysm dissected in 2003. She was 60. In 2000, a cousin of ours had died. The doctors never said it was an aneurysm to the family, but after my sister's death and finding out I had a 4.5 aneurysm in the same place, I asked my cousin's brother what the autopsy said. He said they told him his brother's aorta burst from the root to the arch. As well an Aunt of ours had a dissection in 1985. She survived the surgery.


So my thoracic surgeon, who trained at the Cleveland Clinic, suggested that they repair mine. He felt I was a good candidate health wise. He consulted with the doctors at Cleveland Clinic and they all agreed. So I had it done, and I recovered well. I was only in the hospital for five days. I actually was able to walk out of the CCU intensive care 24 hours after surgery. Within three weeks I was ablt to walk two miles again.

Because of the familial aspect I enrolled my family in a research program at Cornell University. Many of my cousins have gone up and been tested. There are a lot of us and many of them have been found to have dilations....that is, under 4 cm. Over 4 cm is considered and aneurysm. Most don't recommend surgery until 5 cm or unless they see a rapid increase over a six month period.

Anyway, it is good to be watched, and to be knowledgeable. In the end, if you have to have surgery, then do it.
In my opinion, it was not all that bad.
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