Celiac Artery Aneurysm: Anyone else with same illness?

@kimberlyh57 We called 911 for my husband (age 58) on a Saturday night , as we thought he was having a heart attack. His pain was middle & upper chest & very intense & into his back & he was sweaty & short of breath. Among other tests, they referred for an ultrasound, where results would be sent to one of their vascular surgeons. Two days later on the Monday, he had a light meal for lunch & immediately after that meal the same intense epigastric pain came back. It was only then that we realized the Saturday attack had also been triggered by a meal.
A few days later he had an ultrasound of his stomach, and from that the vascular surgeon gave us the diagnosis of a 1.3 cm celiac artery aneurysm. I previously posted here - his advice was no smoking, control cholesterol, keep a close eye on blood pressure, no heavy lifting, and limit stress.
Take care and All the best,
Michele
Toronto, Canada

Hi I was told yesterday that I have a fusiform aneurysm of the celiac artery. They said it was 1cm, it was found on the CT scan. I went to ER I was having intermittent epigastric area pain that radiates into my upper back, between my shoulder blades. When the pain was intermittent it was after eating and then it was constant for 2days. I was worried something was going on with my heart, I’m 57 and have hypertension. They said my heart enzymes were negative and ekg was good, then they did CT and found the celiac artery aneurysm. I didn’t know how rare it is until I looked it up. I could tell the ER doctor wasn’t familiar with it by the look on her face. What I’m wondering has anyone who has a celiac aneurysm have any similar symptoms as mine? I’m going to make an appointment Monday with my primary doctor, since it’s this weekend this occurred. I would appreciate any information anyone can give me. It’s kinda overwhelming.

Hi @tjelderd and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Have you been diagnosed with a Celiac Artery Aneurysm? Would you like to share your experience?

Thanks for the reply. The 2cm level seems to be the magic number for repair. I really appreciate you sharing the advice of his Vascular Surgeon. I will now give up that occasional cigar, start taking the statin that I never can remember to take, talk to my wife about the Keto diet we have been on, and watch my blood pressure more carefully- Great advice that makes sense.

In my case I have gone in for CAT scans on pretty much a yearly basis to monitor the progression of Follicular Lymphoma. I have been on a watch and wait program for this NHL, so I have experience with that. The difference is- with NH Follicular Lymphoma the process of watch and wait can last years, before they reach levels that indicate treatment and the treatment is well understood. I had CHOP Chemotherepy in 2011. Unfortunately it is incureable, but fortunately it is considered more of a chronic low grade cancer condidtion today.

I was shocked to see the scan indicate the 1.4cm Celiac Artery Aneurysm last week. My scan of 1 yr ago did not mention it at all. Also troubling is the fact that this scan was at a different hospital than last years and the difference between the scans at the NHL Lymph Node level are of great concern. Last year they were watching a couple of particular nodes that we identified in 2018. Last year they had not grown-All good. This new hospital did not mention them at all-last week, but they did find a few others that were out of range. The results don't make sense in comparison, which makes me question the CAA finding along with all the other data. Not that I don't believe it as much as I would like to not believe it.

I will ask to have the new hospital do an analyis that compares against my past few years of scans from the old one. I made sure they had all the data, but simply assumed they would actually do all of that.

My best to you and your husband. God bless you and all of you that contribute to this site. It was a fabulous find for me toady as this Aneurysm thing is really scary.

Merry Christmas to you all!
David
Tulsa

Thanks for the reply. The 2cm level seems to be the magic number for repair. I really appreciate you sharing the advice of his Vascular Surgeon. I will now give up that occasional cigar, start taking the statin that I never can remember to take, talk to my wife about the Keto diet we have been on, and watch my blood pressure more carefully- Great advice that makes sense.

In my case I have gone in for CAT scans on pretty much a yearly basis to monitor the progression of Follicular Lymphoma. I have been on a watch and wait program for this NHL, so I have experience with that. The difference is- with NH Follicular Lymphoma the process of watch and wait can last years, before they reach levels that indicate treatment and the treatment is well understood. I had CHOP Chemotherepy in 2011. Unfortunately it is incureable, but fortunately it is considered more of a chronic low grade cancer condidtion today.

I was shocked to see the scan indicate the 1.4cm Celiac Artery Aneurysm last week. My scan of 1 yr ago did not mention it at all. Also troubling is the fact that this scan was at a different hospital than last years and the difference between the scans at the NHL Lymph Node level are of great concern. Last year they were watching a couple of particular nodes that we identified in 2018. Last year they had not grown-All good. This new hospital did not mention them at all-last week, but they did find a few others that were out of range. The results don't make sense in comparison, which makes me question the CAA finding along with all the other data. Not that I don't believe it as much as I would like to not believe it.

I will ask to have the new hospital do an analyis that compares against my past few years of scans from the old one. I made sure they had all the data, but simply assumed they would actually do all of that.

My best to you and your husband. God bless you and all of you that contribute to this site. It was a fabulous find for me toady as this Aneurysm thing is really scary.

Merry Christmas to you all!
David
Tulsa

Hi @finled...I'm new here...first post. My husband is 58 and a few weeks ago, they found a 1.3 cm celiac artery aneurysm on a Cat scan, that was for an unrelated gastric issue. The vascular surgeon wants to see him every 6 months, and if it gets to 2 cm. he will do endovascular repair. His advice was to stop smoking, no fattening food (control cholesterol), keep a very close eye on his blood pressure, no heavy lifting, and limit stress! Like you, I cannot believe it's almost 2021 and it is still so rare, that I cannot find anything on google for 'how to live with a celiac artery aneurysm". Take good care of yourself. All the best.

Thanks for adding that info Chris. I am 63 yers old and last Wednesday the Docs just found a 1,4cm celiac artery aneurysm on a Cat scan. i only know this because I have access via Mychart to my records and i read the results of the Scans. pretty bummed that after 5 days, i have not received a call. It is almost 2021 now and there still is little about this out there.

Hope you are doing well.

Hi, i was diagnosed with a 2cm celiac artery aneurysm 4 years ago. Im 57.

It is definately hard to find any recent research. I am going in this morning for my biannual CT angiogram, hoping that it hasnt grown. I was so glad to find this board because of its rarity and how its presence seems to linger in the back of my mind. I live in Utah so i had to go to Mayo once it was discovered. Originally it was for surgery because 2cm is the size which intervention is needed. They then said that it was only 1.4 cm wide and 2cm long, so i went on the watch and weight program.

Its not a diagnosis that sits well. They say that since there is not that many cases the data of rupture is just not available, but that the science behind the wall pressure and such makes watching less of a risk.

I dont get pain that often, but when i do its always a uneasy feeling and reminder when you know that the mortality rate if ruptured is high.

So, i guess we are just a special group of humans that must take life as a precious gift regularly. And do our follow-up as needed. Like i said, its been over 4 years and my lil guy hasnt grown at all, so maybe it never will and ill live to be a crotchety old man.

Warm regards,
Chris McArdle