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One year 4.1cm growth, next step???
Hello, I am a 60 year old male, 6' 1" tall, 218lbs. I had a CT scan < 7 months ago, they found a 4.1cm TAA. Now I realize that may not be that bad, however, I have had many CT scans before with and without contrast in the same area as they were looking for more blood clots, (I have clotted up four times, the last being main in rt leg, both lungs and my neck). So with that being said, as an engineer, I view this as a 4.1cm growth in one year excessive as that was my last CT scan showing nothing at all. My hematologist agrees that this is concerning as she reviewed my last 5 CT scans showing nothing. So, my point, I strongly feel I need another scan to see how much it has grown since this last showing scan which was 6 months 3 days ago... Am I right, or over reacting??
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Hi, as a fellow engineer, the growth was not 4.1 of course but to 4.1 from ?, the aorta on average is around 3cm +/- so your growth may have been about 1 cm which is significant. The main path in my mind is to continue periodical follow ups and measures following the exact same procedure (CT Scan) so that a true growth rate can be determined.
My recommendation is you find a cardiologist who is an aortic diseases specialist, not all of them are and it makes a big difference. The cardiologist will set the periodicity of your follow ups and measures and will give you recommendations. At 4.1 cm you are far from needing repair, especially since you are tall (size of aneurysm to body size is one of the variables they take into account among many others, growth rate is another) but it is paramount to determine true growth rate.
Hope that helps
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2 Reactions@houston13 Thank you very much for that input! I am looking for just that right now...
@ktracy515 , as a reference, I’m 5’ 6” and my aneurysm was found at 5.2cm, so in my case it was very large for my body size, I had my repair 2 months after, we are the same age, but mine was repaired 6 years ago at 54. You are doing the right things, all the best
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2 ReactionsHi, @ktracy515. I'd mention one more thing. I think 4.0 cm is probably around the size when the radiologist might finally note it on the report. Below that it might be considered normal. So when your doctor said she reviewed the reports, she may not have actually looked at the scans, just the radiologist report. They may be able to look at the old scans and identify a possible growth rate. FWIW.
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