Ascending Thoracic Aorta Aneurysm, Part 1 of 2 - CLOSED

I had an aortic aneurysm in the root (which is where the heart and aorta meet). It was 4.5 cm. I lived with it for several years. I finally had it repaired with open heart surgery in 2005 and am doing well.

Funny.  I read the first post in here about month or so ago. Finally signed up.  And now there is another post.  Well, you guys are amatuers.  LOL! Well, what I mean is my ascending thoracic aorta aneurysm 5.3 cm per the CT SCAN.  I go for my first consult with the heart surgeon this Thursday - 6/19.  He is the top dog at Yale Hospital - Chief of Cardiac Surgery to be exact.  He even has a specialty in the field - ascending thoracic aorta aneurysm - go figure!!  I guess I'll be in good hands.  Initially I was having my deviated septum fixed (a Hollywood nose job if you will) and a toncelectomy to help improve my breathing.  I have mild sleep apnia and I snore like a jack hammer ( my wife was fed up!  LOL).  My EKG also showed a change - it's not suppose to.  One of the up bleeps now showed it to be a down bleep.  A echo was scheduled and they measured the asc. aorta to be 5.4 cm.  The CT Scan (which I think is way more acurate) showed it to be 5.3 cm.  I am in no pain.  I wouldn't even know about this if it wasn't for my wife complaining about my snoring!  Since finding out I've done a little research.  i think I'll be doing a lot more after Thursday.  As faras I can tell, if the reports I was reading online were not too old, once you hit 5-5.5 cm, surgery is recommended.  There are two types.  Don't ask me the names - I have memorized them yet.  But the minor of the two, they go in through the arteries in the groin and run a mesh like tubing (looks kind of like the inside or a garden hose) up to the aneurysm.  It helps releave the pressure on the aneurysm.  I think this is more an older person's surgery.  It is a lot less risk and everything I've read has attached something along the phrase of "depending on the condition of the patient"  The other isd more or less open heart surgery and the remove the whole part of the aorta and replace it with a rubber-type material.  I think this would be a younger guys surgery because it would be a more permanent fix.  Unfortunately, I think I will be having the open heart surgery.  I am relatively healthy.  Oh...and I'm only 34!!!!  I try not to let things bother me until I have to.  Right now I'm just living my life normally.  I do try and stay calm, which is hard to do with a 4 year old.  I do notice when I get really aggravated I start to feel really bad.  I think it has to do with my BP rising.  But, besides that, life goes on as normal.  Well, at least until Thursday.  We shall see.

Saw my doctor.  Aug 12th, 2008 - open heart surgery.  Removing aorta aneurysm and possibly valve if damaged.  Currently they hear a murmur, but it might be being caused by the aneurysm.  Doc said I am in the "yellow" range (green - ok, yellow - cautious, red - danger).  He said that if I didn't find out about this, it probably would have become dissected within 1-3 years.  Probably would have died before I got to the hospital.  It more than likely would have been misdiagnosed as a heart attack.  And all this started because my wife was sick and tired of me snoring!  God Bless for small things!!  Good luck to all you out there who have or are worrying with one of these fun little aneurysms.  I will write again after the surgery.

Hi there

I'm not sure if anyone is still reading this thread but it was good to stumble across it.  I was recently diagnosed as having an aneurysm.  The most recent diagnoses was " sinus aneurysm of the aortic root going through to the septum with fistula to the right ventricle" ... bit of a mouthful !

It was discovered by chance really, I felt some mild palpations and thought I'd get them checked out, normally I would not have bothered but I was increasing the intensity of the rowing training I was doing.  I'm 34 years old and although I don’t train so hard in recent years I have in the past really pushed myself to extremes physically.  So now I feel rather lucky that nothing bad has happened up to this point and so glad I went to the doctors that afternoon.

Needless to say I'm taking it easy and await surgery within the next few weeks, I'm not sure exactly what will be done other than it will be open heart type surgery and I may require a pacemaker at the end of all this. 

The sooner the operation comes now the better really, waiting for it is the biggest pain.  I dont seem to be too worried about (although I was at first) i'm more curious to learn about whats going on and hear from other people who have been there, my main concern is being able to do all the things I do now after the operation.

Anyhow hope anyone else in the same boat finds another account helpful I know I did

Jim

My husband has an ascending thoracic aortic aneurysm as well; his was 4.8 upon discovery in January 2004 and it's now 5.4 (we just got the results of his yearly CT scan yesterday). The doctor isn't too concerned about it and says that controlling blood pressure is the key to preventing further growth, but my husband has been on a beta blocker all this time, so obviously blood pressure control isn't the ONLY key to this thing. His grandfather had two of them, so we do believe it's a hereditary thing in his case. As for whether or not a yearly CT scan is enough, my husband had the scans every few months for the first year and now does them yearly. I personally would feel better if he had them more often, but it is what it is. I'm going to talk to my husband about getting a second opinion because according to my online research, surgical repair should definitely be considered when the aneurysm is 5cm-5.5cm, but his doctor wants to wait until it's 6cm. Yikes! Sounds like your doctor has the right idea (in my opinion, anyway) if he wants to operate when yours gets to be 5cm. It could take years for it to get to that size or it may NEVER get that big; here's hoping, eh? As for your panic, I certainly understand that! But honestly, yours is still on the small side and since your doctor is going to operate on it at 5cm, you should just live life to the fullest in the meantime and watch your blood pressure. It is definitely a black cloud, and my husband and I had a hard time at first, but now we're so used to that black cloud that the only time we get concerned is when he goes in for his yearly CT scan. I'm really uncomfortable with his being 5.4cm and hope I can convince him to get a second opinion with respect to whether or not it should be repaired now or at 6cm. Best of luck to you!

Hey!  Still around!  I thought I read somewhere that an aneurysm always keeps growing.  It is usually only a very small amount every year, but with other factors and risks, it could grow faster.  With my surgery, I seemed to heal with super-human speed and strength.  I consider myself very lucky - both with the finding of the aneurysm and the success of the surgery and post-op.  I am now running into another - hopefully not associated - problem.  about once a month since the surgery I have had vision episodes.  They usually last between 15-30 seconds.  What happens is that my sight just about goes out totally.  It get very blurry and out of focus.  Is anyone else out there having this happen??  Last week I went and saw my PCP who sent me to a neurologist who thinks I might be getting clots in my basal(or is it basil) artery.  He, along with my cardiologist and heart surgeon, is doing a bunch of tests.  One theory might be clots forming on the tube that replaced my ascending aorta.  Well, I guess time will tell.  I just had the first two tests Sat. - a MRI and MRA of the brain.  Waiting on results.  This was supposed to be a good year for me!  Well, we shall see....

Glad to have found this board. I just had a TEE test done and the Dr. found a 4.7 aorta aneurysm and a 2.7 aneurysm their saying is on the outside on top of the V in the valves. Not sure I understand it all. I also was told to watch it until it hit 5 but was also told by my nero that I'd be better off getting it done now at 47 than waiting until I'm not healthy or something happpens in the future. I do have polycystic kidney and at this time kidney function is alright but I have huge cyst. Cardio Dr. just said don't lift nothing over 20 lbs. Like I said my nero is more upset about the aneuysms than the cardio it seems. Nero is sending me for test because I have neuropathy and says he's calling my cardio because he feels it's to importand to bypass and wants me to go to the Cleveland Clinic for testing of aneurysms. I live in Mich. Anybody have a better resource or hospital to have this checked? Also, I have a mitro valve that has a slow leak. Hope this made some since. Any input would be much appreciated. Good luck to all.

I don't think you can get much better then the Cleveland Clinic if you're in the midwest.   I was followed for many years at the Cleveland Clinic when I lived in Ohio and in Michigan.   Very good doctors with an outstanding reputation.  The Mayo up in Minnesota is another good choice in the Midwest, although it's probably stretching it to say Minneapolis is Midwest.

My mother died from a ruptured aneurysm of the ascending thoracic aorta at age 59, and I have been treated for hypertension since I was in my 40's.  I had always wondered about the possibility of my having one, and had mentioned my family history to my doctor many times.  Finally, at age 63, she asked me if I wanted to be screened for an aneurysm, which of course I did.  My ascending aortic aneurysm was 4.7 cm. in August, and was in the exact same location as my mother's.  My echo showed some moderate aortic valve dysfunction, but after a weight loss I'm generally without symptoms.  I, too, felt anxious about the idea of waiting another year to have it checked again, especially since there was no change in any of my medications.  All I could do was loose the extra 60 lbs. I had gained, and start an exercise program to get in the best possible shape in case I ever do need surgery!  Now I'm at an ideal weight and much more physically fit, but I have to admit that everytime I have any type of chest discomfort or light-headedness, I wonder.  We live an hour away from the closest hospital that could do emergency surgery, so I hope that if I ever need to have surgery, it will be elective.  My next CT scan will be in August, and I wonder about having the work-up done at the Cleveland Clinic for a second opinion; the hospital in my area doesn't do anywhere near the amount of thoracic aortic aneurysm repairs.

  Have any of you contacted the John Ritter foundation?  They are partnered with a study at the University of Texas.  Since I have a family history (my mother, and my brother has an abdominal aneurysm) I'm thinking of participating in their genetic study and asking my children if they would, also.

Good luck to all of you

Thanks gpo for all the info. I obvioulsy knew of John Ritters passing and it being heart related but didn't realize it was due to a aorta aneurysm.  You've also gave a great idea in having my family checked out. Congrats on getting yourself to a healthy weight/shape in case You should need surgery, that makes a huge difference from what I understand.

 Does anybody have a cardio Dr. that seems to have such a wait and see attitude? All my other physicians tell me get it fixed asap, but my cardio seems so cool and calm. He wants to wait six months to see if it grows from the 4.7 even though they now say if your 45 and the size is larger than 4.5 surgery is warranted.

Well I went to the Cleveland Clinic for a work up. What an excellent place for people with our problem (aneurysms). They had me arrive at 7AM and did every test possible. After all the test I saw the surgeon who explain a graph they utilize to see if you fit into a certain criteria for surgery. I happen to have polycystic kidney disease so it kind of complicates things for me. My kidney function is border line. In fact I had to drink two bottles of water before my CT because my kidney function. They have me at 4.8 to 5 aneurysm wise but want to wait for six months and do another CT.

I still feel scared all the time and keep forgeting not to lift nothing over 30lbs. My surgeon in Detroit wanted to change my valve because my tricuspid is only a bicuspid but the Cleveland Clinic said that's crazy because it's still working fine and any time you can keep your own valve vs an artificial one your better off. Besides he said I may need the blood thinners for something else some day. Sorry for going on just wanted to let every one know the Cleveland Clinic was really a great place and they really take care of you. Like I said I'm still nervous but feel a little better knowing I've been to one of the best places possible and they have a history on me now and gave me advice.

Identifier glad you had a good experience at the Cleveland Clinic. I know that for the many years I went to the Cleveland Clinic I had a very positive experience. My bicuspid valve was replaced when I was 35, but I was symptomatic and tests revealed that my valve was calcified so badly that it was 99% closed off. 12 years later I had aneurysm repair surgery and the valve was replaced again. As long as your doctors keep an eye on your valve and feel it's not ready to be replaced yet, you're golden. Trust me, you don't want to be on blood thinners unless you have to because they really do impact your life. Keep an eye on that aneurysm and follow all the doctor's advice. Good luck.