ascending aortic aneurism

I had open heart surgery to repair my dissected, ascending aortic aneurysm when I was 50 years old. It was very difficult and I did not have a great experience. That said, it has extended my life and my wife and children are thankful as am I that it did. Whether or not you have your aneurysm repaired by surgery is going to be a matter of personal choice. Knowing what I know now, I don’t know that I would get the surgery done when I was 80., Being well aware of the fact that if I dissect, it’s likely going to take my life pretty quickly. So that’s a question you’re going to have to wrestle with on your own and with your doctors and your family. Again, at 50 I was glad that I survived. If I was 80, I don’t think I would do it again given how truly difficult it was to get through that surgery and experience for me. I had actually two surgeries very close together within three or four days of each other, while I was in a coma And then about two months later, I had to have throat surgery to repair damage to my throat that occurred during intubation. So it was complicated.

With regard to whether or not it has to be open-heart surgery, I am not a doctor but the way I understand the current techniques and procedures there is effectively no way to do this surgery without cracking the sternum and going in to repair an ascending aortic aneurysm. The location of the aneurysm is somewhere above the aortic valve at the top of the heart, and that area is unfortunately relatively inaccessible with the current technology. Again, my open-heart surgery was 9.5 years ago so it’s possible that technology has advanced so greatly now that they’re able to do it using a stent deployed through the femoral or other artery in the body, but I’m not aware of that. I do know that they are using stenting for abdominal aortic aneurysms, which apparently have worked fairly well. Unfortunately, for me, mine was up at the top of my heart, not down in the middle of my stomach so they took a much different approach. I would talk with your doctor and or get out on Google and see whether or not aortic repair specifically ascending aortic arch repair is being done under some circumstances using vascularly deployed stents. Good luck to you and good luck on your decision. peace.

The thoracic surgery specialist that also reviews my CT scans (he is out of state) has a limit of 5.0 cm before he recommends and conducts surgery. He does not go by the radiologist report and reads and interprets the scan on his own. I have also seen that my local cardiologist and radiologists consistently read the same scans and show about 3 mm less than the specialist. So in my case I have seen that reading the scan is not that precise and can depend on who is reading it.

Thank you. Yes he is waiting for 5.0 but I had heard previously from cardiologists that 5.5 is surgery. I also had been told it was thru an artery not ope heart

I had heart 5.5 was the operating pt not 5.0. And surgery would be thru the groin
I did not hear anything about the body size effecting the surgery decision

I am the same age and also debating options. I have aortic valve regurgitation (leaky valve) as well as a 5.0 cm aneurysm. I'm really dreading having a sternectomy, and wondering if a TAVR valve replacement is a possibility, with just watchful waiting on the aneurysm.

I had open heart to repair my 5.2cm ascending aortic aneurysm at 54 (almost 5 years ago) , mine was not an emergency but highly recommended due to the size, my body size and family history. There’s no other way to repair it but open heart, I also have a bicuspid aortic valve that could have needed replacement and they would not due it through catheter due to the risk of rupturing the aneurysm. My valve ended up not being replaced as it was highly functional, but now that the aneurysm is repaired catheter is an option. So as far as I understand it body size is a factor when determining if an aneurysm is large enough and normally they would not repair a valve endovascularly with an aneurysm. My experience was not as dramatic as Moonboy’s it wasn’t a piece of cake but not unbearable. Of course I was 25 years younger than you, your general physical condition is a major factor, your cardiologist and surgeon should be able to tell you the odds of a successful surgery (99.9% was what they gave me so no brainer)