Ct numbers, what do they mean ?

@lewee Just to add to the comments by others, a key reason surgery is not done on those with under 5 cm dilation, is that is is a very complex and high risk operation. Various sources note 5% fatality rate during surgery. It is also 4-5 hours long where the patient is a heart lung machine (so heart is stopped and has to be restarted). On the other hand life style changes, like avoiding strain, heavy lifting, stepping low blood pressure etc. can keep things stable for years to the point where surgery might never be needed. That has being my case where it has being stable for 3 1/2 years around 4.2.

thank you

@lewee Thank you for the critically important info. Just getting into therapy for high LAD Ca score(2200) and 4.2 ascending aortic aneurism. Will share when I can.

@mimiz hello mimi do you mind sharing what age your husband is and how large his aneurysm was when it was discovered? I am currently in the same boat monitoring one that was measured at 39mm in 2022 by echocardiogram. I've had a bunch of ct scans since (annually) and the measurements have gone from 40mm to latest measurement at 42mm in June 2026. All of my ct scans have been non gated. I'm trying to determine if I have had true growth or is this artifact blur. I will schedule an appointment with a cardiologist this fall as all of this information is just noted on my ct scans as incidental findings. Im having ct scans annually to monitor some lung nodules and that's where I am seeing these numbers regarding the ascending aorta measurements on those lung screening reports. Thanks for your reply. I hope your husband is doing well with his watchful waiting and that he is stable.

Hi Hercules! I don't mind sharing at all. Thanks for asking. My husband is currently 61 yrs old (he'll be 62 in October) he is 5'9" and weighs 150 lbs. His aortic aneurysm was found when he was 60 yrs old during a routine calcium CT scan. Size at last measure, October 2025, was 4.6cm (equal to 46mm). It is stable and he is active and very healthy, overall. He plays indoor and outdoor pickleball 2 to 3 days a week/2-3 hours each day. He does light weight bearing exercises a few times a week (nothing heavy - no grunting or breath holding exercises). We went on a walk the other day ... his heart rate didn't get over 87 bpm. He does yard work and mows the lawn with a push mower. His measured sleep score is always great. We both have a pretty clean diet but no crazy food fad diets or elimination diets - we mostly eat whole organic food, limit sugar, salt, saturated fats and watch our portion sizes, no smoking, and we limit alcohol consumption. I guess what I'm getting at is my husband wouldn't know he has an aortic aneurysm if it wasn't caught randomly - no signs or symptoms - and this seems pretty normal for the condition. However, now that he does know, he isn't waiting around for anything, rather, he lives with awareness of the aneurysm in his chest - he has an annual CT scan with/without contrast and follow-up with his cardiologist but he does not let it worry and stress him - STRESS is a KILLER. Instead, again, he lives with awareness, he makes healthy choices (most of the time), he listens to his body and honors the complicated amazing machine that it is! My advice for you is to seek out the care of a cardiologist with aortic aneurysm experience. Educate yourself and advocate for yourself. Do you have someone who can also advocate for you, too? Having a support system is very helpful. I go to my husband's appointments because in the exam room 4 ears are better than 2! Be well and if you can do nothing else in the moment ... close your eyes and just breathe.

@mimiz Thank you for sharing this information concerning your husband's condition. I, too, have absolutely no symptoms. My aneurysm was discovered when I went to a heart specialist after realizing that this is most often a genetic condition. (My mother died from hers, my brother has his 3rd one right now). We now have other relatives who have the condition as we. I'd like to know what doctors are telling you and your husband about the size of the aneurysm before surgery is necessary, since I'm hearing and reading very different information.

@professorkrh Hi professorkrh - my husband saw the cardiologist for the first time October 2025 and his next visit and recheck will be October 2026. At first visit we went with a lot of questions and a bit of anxiety given the topic - TAA. The cardiologist was great about lowering the anxiety in the exam room that day. He didn't specify a size rather he generalized ... what he did talk about is family history, overall health condition, lifestyle, other known risks for aneurysm anywhere in the body and the size and rate of growth of the TAA - all these factors matter and it's not just about current size. So the answer to your question isn't straight forward. Given what you said about first line family history (mother, brother) your situation likely raises a few more caution flags and deserves stricter and more frequent evaluation. I wish I could give you a straight answer to your question about size before surgery but I don't think there is just one answer. Like many things related to human health, and life in general, it depends.

Given your known genetic predisposition you might find the journal article below helpful:

"The Genetics and Typical Traits of Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm and Dissection"
https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-genom-111521-104455

@mimiz Hello, Mimiz, and thank you so much for sharing your family's story. Also, thank you for attaching the article. I have now read the article, taking notes along the way, and I plan to discuss much of it with my heart specialist. While I don't understand many of the medical terms, I'm an English professor and I'm used to reading complicated research so I did learn much. Also, I've been concerned all along the way with the fact that my mother's 2 brothers and my only male cousin on her side of the family all had Duchesne Muscular Dystrophy. It seems likely to me that there is an internal/physical connection in some way. Do you know anything about this? It seems to me my family might be a good family to research or to be included in research. I plan to explore that possibility further. Thank you again, and the best to you and your family.

@gamecock77 I look forward to hearing from you and to hearing what you learn.

@professorkrh I am not familiar with a connection between DMD & TAA. However, when I hit a research wall, I lean on Claude.Ai to help guide me on questions like this. Perhaps you can ask your specific questions to Claude? The health related dots Claude.ai has personally connected for me are too numerous to count.

Yes, I agree, you and your family do indeed sound like a family to include in any ongoing and/or future research. Thank you for your best wishes … the same to you and yours. 🙏🏼