Help Understanding First/One-year Size Monitoring Scan
I am looking for some input on the measurement of an ascending aortic dilation/aneurysm. Long story short of the measurements:
First measurement was a calcium CT. 4.5 cm
Second measurement was coronary CT angiogram (for other reasons): 4.3 cm (just a couple of months after the calcium CT)
First follow up scan almost exactly one year after the calcium CT: 4.7 w/o contrast. 4.5 w/contrast.
I know there is some error in the scans. I am a little overwhelmed trying to pin it down. Does anyone know if there's any chance this thing has not grown or is under 4.5cm?
Thanks!
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Hang in there Bitsygirl! What does your husband's cardiologist say? He/She and team need to talk with you and your husband. Variations do occur among the imaging techniques. They should clarify your husband's status and lay out a plan. Peace of mind is extremely important.
🌸
Have you gotten and echo cardiogram. This can measure your aneurysm yoo
Thank you @upartist! Surprisingly my husband and I both have ascending aorta aneurysms. These are my measurements. I am usually the more optimistic about health concerns, but I am a little worried. I had seen a PA early on and he said that we could go over the scan results by phone since I live two hours away from their office. Less than two hours after the scan they called and arranged an appointment with the surgeon in a couple of weeks. So I am working to not worry. I imagine that the potential growth has just caught their attention and they will start taking a closer look. I found one mention in an article that implied .2cm might be in the margin of error.
Thank you for your support and advice. It helps!!
@mustangsally67 Thanks for your reply. Yes. I had one around a year ago. It measured 4.1. There were some other measurements in the results that contradicted the coronary CTA significantly and for some other reasons I believe it is the least reliable. But my fingers are crossed! I’m glad that I’ll finally be able to talk to the surgeon at any rate.
Glad your appt is coming up. Take care
I to, am glad your appointment is coming up. 🌸
The scan measurments can vary based on angle. I had a similar questions. My cardiologist indicted the aortic root and accending artery near the root are harder to get a clean picture based on angle of the shot.
@mplopez5 Thanks for your input. I've continued to search and I'm pretty sure the margin of error in the measurement is at least a couple of millimeters. Yet, I guess the surgeons have to work within this regardless. I found a YouTube video in which a vascular surgeon described his process for deciding when to intervene surgically. I should have bookmarked it.
I'm overthinking the reasons behind this meeting, but I am guessing he may be using what seems to be an increasingly used measure of risk: aortic cross-sectional area to height. (An overview is here: https://consultqd.clevelandclinic.org/improving-risk-stratification-dilated-aorta-trileaflet-aortic-valve/.) By that measure, I might be at non-trivial risk. We'll see. I can live with whatever is the outcome of the meeting. I don't think I'm at high absolute risk regardless and the wave of panic has subsided. 🙂
I had a sinus of valsalva aneurysm, between where the aorta meets the heart and just below the coronary artery.
It measured 5.2cm for over a year with no change. I elected to have surgery because there were 2 threats, rupture and if it grew any it may pinch the coronary artery and cause a heart attack.
Once in to correct the problem the surgeon noted it was larger than originally discussed.
It has been 5+ weeks now and I am starting to get back to my normal routine, feeling better and stronger everyday.
It is a process, but I am very happy that I did this.
It's always reassuring to hear stories from folks that have had a successful surgery. I am kind of wondering whether the root is a concern. In the initial coronary CTA, the root was smaller than the ascending aorta. Hoping that is still the case. I've seen a little bit here and there that aneurysms of the root may be problematic at smaller sizes than the ascending aorta.
Glad everything went well for you!! Thanks for posting!