Worried about 2nd pending surgery for ascending aortic aneurysm

Wondering if should return to Mayo for 2nd opinion. Im sure at some point it needs to be done but nervous about longevity of valve - have a Starr Edwards ball & cage btw

My brother had his done at Mayo last summer. They were able to repair the aortic valve instead of replace it.

Did he already have a mechanical heart valve? My husband has a mechanical aortic heart valve he had done at Mayo in May of 2000 so 22 years ago... Were they able to repair a mechanical valve? Thanks for info!

No, it is his original valve. He did not want to be on blood thinners so he asked them to try and repair it instead of replace it.

@kitspeirs, how are you doing? Did your husband have his surgery? How is he doing?

My husband has an ascending aortic aneurysm of 4.6 to 4.8, depending if the surgeon or the radiologist is measuring. The surgeon says 4.6; the radiologist, 4.8. We go back to Mayo in October. This was discovered serendipitously. His Mayo cardiologist took another job and the new one noticed there was no echocardiogram in the files. Voila'! There it was!!! This was very fortunate because my husband normally did all sorts of crazy things, including heavy lifting of boards and stuff - repairing stuff. He has been very careful this last year but we are worried.
Your husband had a big jump in a year. You are very close to where the odds of rupture increase dramatically (5.5), unless your husband is close to seven feet tall. I would definitely go ahead with the surgery. That is a big change in a year - more than would be expected. You could, of course, get a second opinion at the Cleveland Clinic. They do telehealth opinions, I believe but am not sure. In any case, I would go back to Mayo in three months or six months.

Not yet... We have a consultation with the surgeon on Fri. I think he will schedule then... My husband seems finally ready to accept ot just has to happen. Thank you for asking!

I so appreciate your feedback. You are right .. i wonder if his accident 2.5 yrs ago started this fast increase? He fell from a skateboard the day we were moving our son to college. He broke several ribs & a lung collapsed! 6 days later he still wasn't breathing well & they put him on a ventilator to sweep out his lungs. After 2.5 days they were ready to remove it. He was awake and trying to pull the vent out for 4 hrs, we tried to calm him, he tried so hard to be calm but then he'd start coughing with the vent in! He literally turned purple a few times and i can only imagine that increased all the pressure- im surprised it didn't burst! Then the next day they found an internal bleed in the abdomen & he was life flighted to Univ hospital. He was there for 28 days, it was quite scary for first 2 weeks at least... He just hasn't been himself since. Never regained his stamina or strength really, short of breath a lot, just not back to himself. He's just so worried after this 2nd open heart that he will have a worse quality of life... He says he'd rather die suddenly of aneurysm rupture than slowly and just have a crappy life. However, i think its worth the risk and that he can recover and hopefully at least get back to where he is now... So many things can go wrong during open heart that its overwhelming... However he did well last time after the first painful ten days or so. Thanks so much for responding. I sure hope you guys stay vigilant and monitor the aneurysm too.