Newly Diagnosed: 4.9 cm ascending aortic looking for support

I've since learned that MRI, particularly with advance sequences such as 4D Flow, provides multiparametric evaluation without radiation exposure for those of us requiring repeat imaging every 6 months or every year. Did your cardiologist or cardiothoracic surgeon ever give you that option ?

@houston13 Can you provide your surgeon's name? I am in Texas.

@delprice112 of course my surgeon was Dr Anthony Estrera, wonderful surgeon and person and my cardiologist Dr Siddharth Prakash an authority in aortic diseases, both work under UT Physicians , below a link to their bios:
https://www.utphysicians.com/provider/anthony-l-estrera/
https://www.utphysicians.com/provider/siddharth-k-prakash/

I am in the same boat as you. 4.2cm. I am having an aortic angiogram soon before intervention decisions will be made. That will tell the tale on the extent of my plaque found in the left anterior artery (LAD) as well. Did your Dr. do that also?

@gamecock77 in my case I did have an angiogram, that is standard procedure (should be done always) they want to make sure there’s is nothing else to fix while they have you open.

Hey it’s Farmerken checking in, just wondering how it’s going .. I haven’t been on the Mayo connect in quite awhile .. hope all is well!

Last July, I got the same news with a 5.1cm! Same with me, non-smoker, vegetarian for 40 years and by chance, it was found during a CT scan for shoulder surgery. What a mind game it has been for me. I've had my ups and downs with anxiety and depression. I want to say the initial fear goes away, but I think time helps you digest the information and you learn to deal with it. Stay strong, and I'd love to share support with you. I'm a single, 63yr. old women who lives with her 3 dogs. I have two goats and a barn cat as well. Find what makes you truly happy and concentrate on those things. Hope this helps. Lindy

@gamecock77

Yes, an angiogram is a very good idea. I had my first appoint with the congenital specialist at Mayo Clinic on July 22, 2024. My concern was getting a 2nd opinion on the 4.7 cm ascending aortic aneurysm and 4.8 at the aortic root. She recommended an exploratory angiogram. However, the CT with contrast she did following the 8 am appointment that day, she called me at 8 am the next morning saying it wasn't an option in more but essential. She found a complex coronary fistula from The RCA to pulmonary artery and from the mid-LAD to the pulmonary artery. There as another fistula from the bronchial artery to the pulmonary artery as well. In addition there was an aneurysm on the RCA. 6 days later I was back at Mayo Aug 6 for an angiogram with possible intervention with an interventional cardiologist. However, the complex coronary fistula was vast with something called a cor medusae. The aneurysm on the RCA was too large. They also found I had a 100% chronically blocked LAD. The didn't try to repair anything that day. They did a second angiogram through the neck to collect data for a surgeon. The next day they did a cardiac MRI. I met with the chair of Cardiovascular Surgery on Aug 12, 2024. He does heart transplants, heart lung transplants, bypass, valve and aortic replacements and the weird stuff. I checked all the boxes excpet the transplant. He said he would like to do surgery within 2 week, but since I had 4 things that isn't rare in one person, much less all in the same person, he would schedule surgery for Sep 10. He saw the shock on my face and suggested we could postpone the surgery. I asked if meant Jan or Feb. He said no, he meant Oct that I wouldn't need surgery in January. We scheduled it for Sep 10. I also had another catheter procedure on Sep 4 to deal with the fistula from the bronchial artery to the pulmonary artery with an interventional radiologist. It ended up taking 12 platinum coils to block that one off. The surgeon wanted that done because he wouldn't be able to reach it during surgery. Surgery lasted 14.5 hours on Sep 10 and 17 units of blood. After a double bypass on the LAD, ligation of the complex coronary fistula, re-sectioning of the RCA and Bental procedure, I still had a mid to distal ascending aortic aneurysm of 4.4, but it was a bridge too far that day. They lost me for 7 minutes at one point and I lost 3.5 liters of blood. On Nov 4, 2024 it was 4.4cm and on Aug 2025 it was 4.6. I am going in on Apr 17 to recheck it. After all that, I am where I thought I was on Jul 22, 2024.

@kamvenk i am 10 days post op ascending aortic aneurysm repair with a healtthy bicuspid aortic valve . Surgery done at OHSU portland oregon. All went well! Now at home recovering.. goal is to return to my active lifestyle!

Happy healing and a safe, speedy return to your active lifestyle😌