@dew88

I think I should have been a little clearer—my mistake.

By “minimally invasive techniques,” I meant a mini-sternotomy, not endovascular procedures like TEVAR—which, incidentally, isn’t possible for an ascending aorta. And even if it were possible, I’d still opt for a traditional Dacron replacement. This procedure is much riskier and the recovery is much more difficult, but in the long run, it’s still much better and safer.

Yes, I’m well aware that this is a very invasive and dangerous procedure, but for relatively young people (I’m 53 years old) who are otherwise in very good health, such an operation—performed by a highly experienced surgical team at a high-volume center—nowadays carries a very low mortality risk.

It’s not for nothing that the threshold has been lowered from 55 mm to 50 mm if performed in high volume centers .
To be honest, I do have my doubts about the story that your friend doesn’t know what his aortic diameters were. Every fellow patient I know on forums could recite his exact diameter in their sleep.

And of course, you won’t be 100% again after surgery, but it will still be much better than it is now because the fear of a dissection is gone and the lifestyle recommendations are a lot more flexible. In my case, it involves replacing a segment of the mid-ascending aorta—no bicuspid valves, so no valve replacement. So it’s a fairly straightforward procedure where the risks are quite minimal. And yes, I’m more than willing to take that 0.5–1% risk of death.