I agree strongly with @moonboy. I have a 4.3 cm descending thoracic aortic dilation with “pseudoaneurysmal outpouchings” and have thankfully not had a dissection. I was also diagnosed 12 years ago with a “non specific connective tissue disorder.” The cardiologist I thought I trusted back then told me I didn’t need to be scanned any more and that there was nothing else that could be done, so I should just go live my very active life and take my statins and if it ruptured, they would take care of it then! I was at 2.9 cm then and believed her. Last year before I started on a permanent RV journey across the US, I insisted my then cardiologist order a scan just for the heck of it. I had met my OOP deductible for the year so it didn’t cost me anything. Then she flipped out when she saw the results and sent me to a vascular surgeon, convinced I needed surgery immediately! Vascular surgeon in town thankfully has a lot of experience repairing aneurysms and said nope, no surgery and go live your life doing whatever you want but come back every 6 months for a CT. Second one, it had grown another couple of mms and he’s like yeahhh, you’ll probably need surgery one day. I’m like yeahhhh, I need to get myself to an aortic disease center.

All this is to say, you have to be extremely proactive and take charge with all the knowledge you can acquire until you can get into see an experienced vascular surgeon at an aortic disease center clinic. There are many now around the US as aortic disease research is slowing advancing (especially as boomers age, you see more cases and so more research and clinics popping up). I’m mainly in Florida, so I sent a msg from the web page form to both Mayo Clinic and University of Florida-Gainesville that also has a highly rated program. I see Dr. Tomas Martin there next week. Took a couple months to get the appointment but I’ve already had the genetic counseling appointment through the UF aortic disease clinic. Dr. Martin’s clinical coordinator took care of getting all my records which was awesome. And reiterating, most cardiologists have ZERO clue about aortic aneurysms. So you have to find one with experience and interest in aneurysms and vascular disease.