Celiac Artery Aneurysm: Anyone else with same illness?

Hello @itsallaboutmyki,

How is your dad doing? Are you comfortable sharing what you learned from the vascular surgeon?

I have an Asending Aortic Aneurysm coming out of the heart... every year I go in for a CT scan and they measure it.. I has remained the same for 15 yrs .. the Cardiologist said, maybe its been that size your whole life... but now we watch every 2 yrs... I am 82.. Good luck .. keep your blood pressure down.. Ken

Thanks, everyone, for the replies. It really does help ... I felt lost at sea there for a bit. 🙂

Andreas

@andreas92103 - this is definitely a lot of new medical information to process! Overwhelming. Worry about one thing at a time- the CAA will be checked again, so the kidney biopsy is up next. Best wishes and please let us know what's happening. We are always here to listen.

wow.. That certainly is a lot to take in.. So they took care of the broken blood vessel and that is one less thing you need to worry about.. As for you kidney, I had my left one taken out about 2 yrs ago and all is good, so while I hope they don't need to do that to you will make it thru this.. Sounds like you have good doctors and that is key.. hope it all works out ok..

Thank ou for the gracious reply. The shock is beginning to wear off, primarily regarding how unusual this type of aneurysm is. I was also gobsmacked to learn that if a CAA ruptures, mortiality is pegged at 40%.

I spoke with my GP two days ago, and he informed me the CAA is actually 2.0cm, not 1.5cm, and I inferred their attitude is to take a wait-and-see approach and have a CAT scan every 9-12 months. I have very good insurance so there shouldn't be a problem with this schedule of investigation, which I'm grateful for. If it goes to 2.5-3.0cm, I'm going to advocate lilke h*ll to have surgery. I simply cannot live (no pun intended) with a 40% mortality rate.

Oh, and as a quick footnote, on top of the urgent broken blood vessel in the lung finding out about this CAA, I get to have a kidney biopsy next month because I'm in State 3 renal failure. Hurray for me! lol.

It's a lot to take in all in 4 weeks. Ugh.

Thank you for your best wishes.

Andreas.

I was diagnosed several months ago. Another CT scan scheduled for Jan. I have no symptoms.

Absolutely! This discussion group has been very helpful as it provides the collective thoughts and experiences of those of us who have such a rare disorder. Several have had their CAA repaired others continue to monitor. There are several recommendations of surgeons who have performed remedial procedures and others have discussed ways to deal with potentially related GI issues.

Thank you for reply and confirmation that this is a common occurrence. I am finding that the doctors seem reluctant to do to many CT scans , but I agree the imaging is more thorough than the MRI so I may in two years when I am due again, insist on the CT scan. Best wishes to all of us with this rare diagnosis.

Yes! So many have reported digestive issues but linkage between GI issues and CAA doesn't seem to be widely accepted in the medical community. The rarity of this disorder is probably why the connection isn't made but this group alone provides empirical evidence worthy of investigation. I think CT scans is the only way to know if it is growing.