enlarged aorta vs aneurysm?

At 4.3 your aneurysm is on the small side but not to be ignored. The CT scan will provide a more accurate measurement.

You should be followed up, a cardiologist that specializes in aortic diseases would be ideal as your attending cardiologist, not all of them do and it makes a big difference. He/she will establish a follow up protocol to determine the rate of growth , monitor your BP, and give you recommendations. Zero follow up is not the answer, once the rate of growth is known the frequency can be determined.

You know you have it and can do something about it, not everyone has that opportunity. Stay active and continue treating your body well it will pay dividends if and when you ever need surgery. Just be mindful and avoid any exercise that leads you to hold your breath and/or grunt while exerting, (lifting heavy weights for example) it is known BP rises significantly during those moments, high BP is the main thing to watch for.

Search in this forum for “exercise” you will find a lot of discussions and recommendations as well as videos from a cardiologist talking about exercises and aneurysms.

I had a 5.2 cm ascending aneurysm, found after an MTB accident. Like you I was very active and was in good shape, I found the best surgeon in Houston, and he recommended I had it fixed as it was considered large for my body size, and being in good health minimized any risk from surgery. Surgery was as easy as it could have been, fast recovery.

At some point if your aneurysm grows your cardiologist will refer you to a surgeon, but nothing prevents you from consulting with one at this stage. Find the best available to you, someone who’s has done lots of these surgeries (it is open heart unfortunately)

Wish you the best, you came to the right place!!

Fully endorse houston13's remarks. I am 77 yrs old, generally fit and healthy. My aneurysm is 4.6 cm, the consultant surgeon was not at all dismissive, explained fully the risks associated with both rupture and surgery. Annual checkups recommended (which I m doing, no change so far). All the best.

Hi there,

I am a little closer to discovery than some on this board so I may be able to provide some newbie insights.

2 months ago I was also diagnosed with a 4.3. My cardiologist was same as yours, said it’s only significant enough to mention and monitor. If I didn’t have the MyChart app I may have brushed off the lack of concern. But I googled and CHATGPT’d - probably too much. I wish I just had found this place right away and stopped ruminating.

Like you, I was scheduled for a CTA with contrast. My 4.3 Ascending Aorta measured 3.4 on the CTA. My 4.3 Aortic Root measured 4.1 on the CTA. I am a tall person (6’4”) so both measures as “normal” on the CTA report out, which is a bit confusing but good news I’ll take.

Like you, I am a workout fanatic. I did CrossFit for years followed by traditional weightlifting, tennis, hiking etc. I have taken a step back from weight training and am focusing on mild cardio. There are many who continue weight training or other exercise, with caution.

Your individual experience will ultimately vary from mine. But my initial guidance is to avoid googling and ChatGPT’ing too much. Find a community of people who have been through it and have knowledge. This is a great one. Ask questions and advocate for yourself.

You are welcome to message me privately if I can be of any additional support.

Thanks for the details on your CT. I just got diagnosed with an aortic root "mild" dilation of 4.3cm. (ascending is 3.8cm, which is considered normal). I am going in for a follow up with a cardiologist and was told that they would likely do a CT with contrast to get a more accurate measurement. I was warned it could be slightly larger, or slightly smaller. At 6' 215lb, I am faced with the end of heavy weights and ultramarathoning. I'll talk to the cardiologist about that as my BP averages 103/73 and my resting heart rate is 45. As someone who has been physically active and pushed myself hard at times, it is a blow at the moment as that is what keeps my mental health on an even keel. Appreciate you and all the others who are posting their diagnoses and what they are doing to exercise.

@c130herkengineer I was diagnosed last year as an incidental finding to a precautionary CT scan done to check for calcification. Like you, I've been active and have been competitive in marathons (did Boston a few times) and have been part of a competitive men's masters rowing team. I'm at 4.8 cm. My initial "cheap" CT scan came back at 5.0 but I had a subsequent gated CT scan with contrast six months later that showed 4.8 (so there may be some variation when you have a CT scan with contrast) and I just had my one-year follow-up scan that showed no change. My doctor, who trained at the Cleveland Clinic, and who seems pretty current with the literature, advised me to keep most of my workouts in a zone 2 range and to keep my peak heart rate below 80% heart rate reserve and not to lift more than 50% of my body weight (the advice on lifting limits seems to be particularly variable among doctors). I might suggest you check out the Aortic Athletes group on Facebook which has links to some of the videos by some the experts in the field of exercise for people with aneurysms (e.g., Dr. Timothy Churchill at Harvard, Dr. Alan Braverman at Wash. U, and Dr. Prakash at U. Texas) as well as a community of people facing the same issue. It's a shock and it will take a few months for you to adjust, but you'll get there.

I assume from your username you are in the Burgh. I am north in Franklin. I was seen at a UPMC hospital and not a VA facility since there isn't a hospital nearby. I went in for Afib, which was the diagnosis, and the stress test was awesome. I went into normal sinus on my own, but they did try cardioversion twice, which didn't work. I went home and the next day I went for a 2.9 mile run and kept it at 136 bpm, but these past couple of days I've been woken up from a dead sleep with an episode. I worry that I pushed myself back into Afib, and exerted pressure on the aorta. I think anxiety has the better of me at the moment. My appt. is for November 5th provided the VA community care can swing it. At the moment I am really nervous about lifting 30 lb dumbbells or running again. Thanks for the tip on the video! I am going to watch. I love data, but I am learning that you can research Afib and aortic root stuff and find lots of death and destruction, but not being a cardiologist, I can't grasp context sometimes!! Thanks for the reply.

Take your doctor’s suggest and get a CT scan.

Glad the comments were of some use to you. FWIW, relative to the aortic dilation, the statistics on dissection if you are less than 5.0 cm (which you clearly are) and don't have some sort of a genetic marker, like Marfan's, are fairly comforting (i.e., less than 1% risk of dissection). I know there is a higher incidence of afib among endurance athletes, and I hope your doctor is able to help you with that.

Yep. Waiting on my follow up in November. In the meantime I will go to the gym and lift 50-60 lb and try and keep my hr in zone 2. I ended up joining the aortic athletes, which is inspiring. 36% had dissections and they are all running marathons post-surgery.

I’m glad I could help in some way. This forum is incredible. I think someone mentioned the “Aortic Athletes” group on FB also. I joined there and it has been helpful.

Eager to hear how your CTA goes, mine brought me a lot of comfort as the measurements came in smaller. Either way, up or down, it’s best to know.

Always here for you, as are the others on the board.