Ascending Aortic Aneurysm Surgery: When To Have Surgery 

I had thoracic aortic aneurysm from ascending aorta till proximal descending aorta of size 6.7 cm at very high risk. I developed hoarseness in voice and severe back pain as symptom. I did undergo successful hybrid surgery ( open heart + endovascular) for approx 12 hours . My brain branch arteries of aorta were also partially clogged and they were also bypassed. I had this surgery one month ago and now recovering well🙂.

I have an ascending aorta aneurysm that's 5.9 cm. Surgery is early next month. Good luck to me . . .

I also have a 5.8 ascending aortic aneurysm...surgery very soon...good luck to all of us!

Well mine is a 6.2 cm arising aneurysm and severe aortic stenosis... waiting to speak to surgeon end of the month.... im 42 i want this surgery now like today. But in great spirit now the less 😊.

helpful, thanks!

I’m glad he made this video, it answered all my questions hence saved me a trip from going out there.

Exellent video that explains the risks well. However, I was surprised he didn't use a new whiteboard marker for the presentation!!! 😄

I am a healthy 61 year old male, with a mildly dilated aortic root of just 3.8cm. However, after adjusting for sex, age, height, weight and body mass, I am told I am simply at the "outer limits of normal". This was 7 1/2 years ago and a CT scan last week is showing all stable and no growth for 7 1/2 years! I was told I should NOT have any worries.

Dr Roselli. Funny how we met in the operating room because my surgeon had an emergency the previous night. Lol

I am in my early-mid 20s, when I was 19, I found out that I had an Aortic Root aneurysm. I was born with congenital heart defects and valve insufficiency, but we had no idea about the Aneurysm until my doctor found it during an echo after I was having chest pain (unrelated to the aneurysm, the chest pain was likely from severe stress, but I wanted to be sure, so at least I wouldn't be stressed about the chest pain lol). This doctor, who had performed open-heart surgery on me once before, told me nothing apart from "So you have an aneurysm, it's not a problem right now, and you can still have kids" (I was single, 19, and a college student, so I have no idea where kids came from.) Went a couple of years without having it looked at because I didn't realize how serious it could be and my doctor never said anything else. Got a new doctor who actually cares enough to give me information and is keeping me to regular CTs. I am so thankful that I went in for that echo. No family history, no life-style causes, no diseases, nothing would have made me think twice about my Aorta.

I have a distal aortic aneurysm trying find out more about it

Why not offer surgery that keeps the aneurysm from getting any bigger and restricts its growth altogether? The PEARS procedure which is offered in the UK and Australia does just that. It doesn't require a heart-lung machine and there are no incisions to the heart at all. I hope more people learn about PEARS and the FDA finally approves this procedure so US patients can have this done. It's a matter of time when the US finally wakes up and recognises the brilliance, beauty and simplicity of the personalized external aortic root support (PEARS).

I have a AAA at 5.4 and are about to have surgery

The calculation is wrong. Can you clarify?

@lairthehair what happened?

I am female 34 years old with Marfan syndrome . I am having mitral valve repair and my aorta root is 3.8cm and aortic valve 1 degree prolapse twenty years now! I asked my surgeon to fix both of the problems but he told me is not the right time to fix the aorta before reaches 4.8-5.5 cm ! I just have to monitor the aneurysm quite often.

All true providing nothing changes in the lifestyle. If exercising, healthy diet, good sleeping - then aneurysm growing is slow. Bear in mind that the normal diameter is also a statistic value, that is a median (or average?) value, so evaluation of the growth rate is a better tool to evaluate the risk than the diameter alone.

Thank you for the info I feel better now I have a AAA and it is 5 cm they are doing another ct scan in 6 months but I was scared when they told me it was 5 cm because 2 years ago it was only 2 cm.

I think the Dr. got his ratio inverted. I've been told my root is almost 6 cm, so an R of 3. Pi x r*2= 3.14 x 9/188= .15 The inverse of that, however, is 6.65, which is in the order of magnitude of the 10 in his example.

I have been diagnosed with an aortic root aneurysm. I receive my medical care from the VA. They check me every 6 months. I am currently at 4.8 cm. There has been no change in the size of the aneurysm for at least 6 months. I am due for another check in December of 2015. I have been told not to worry about surgery because the odds are that I will never have to face surgery. I am a little nervous about this surgery. I was told it is a 6 hour surgery and that kind of worries me. I am also concerned about pain when I wake up and that endotracheal tube in my throat. I know you don't know me and haven't examined me but what is your honest opinion about what I have been told so far. I am a 66 year old male and a 100% DAV. I also have Multiple Myeloma from Agent Orange and Arterioscloratic heart disease. If I have to have this life saving surgery I want to have it done at Cleveland Clinic in Missouri West of St. Louis. Please Reply.

I am told I have this also. I am 49 y/o 5-5" 170lbs currently in the military. I was discovered at 4.6 cm in 2006 and was monitored every 6 months. Recently 2017 Oct it has grown to 5.2 cm. I was told that I should have open heart surgery. Going to see a cardiologist Nov 14th to see what they say. Just by my brief description does it look like I may have this procedure done?

Hi i have a Aneurysm in my brain it is. Small the doctor said it was to small to do surgery.can I do exercise or do heavy lifting please answer thanks

Im at 5.5cm with a bicuspid valve I have to wait for surgery I wonder how long I can last? the risk factor being so high Im set up for angiogram so Im in line for the surgery but information on people living with high risk is almost zero Im hoping that the aorta has some tolerance to give me the time i need

Went to the emergency November 2020 due to falling off a roof and they found a 4.9 aneurysm. The dr who found it said he was checking me in Bc I needed surgery but I left. Came back n the other dr said see a cardiologist. Saw him and wanted to see if it grows. Now that I was supposed to see him 2 weeks ago I’m having issues Bc my insurance. Last week I been having jaw pain and double/blur vision. Is this related?

I am an 83 year old female with a Thoracic Ascending Aneurysm of 5.5 or 5.9 cm. (due to difference of opinion). Thoracic surgeons are discouraging me from surgery because of my age. They list complications such as death, kidney failure, stroke, etc. They say chance of rupture is only 20%. Do you agree?

I have been diagnosed with thoratic ascending aorta aneurism with aortic regurgitation. My root measures 6cm's wondering if I will b able to work or if filing for disability most effective?

I have ascending and desending . Was told my ascending is 4.8 will have another CTScan in 6months. And a stress testwithin next couple of weeks?? My desending is between. 3.8 and 4. My chest is tender and has pulling pains in between breasts area on my chest ! A bit worried. With Covid -19 a bit more scary !

I have aneurysmal dilatation measuring 4.2 cm on the right pulmonary and I'm so scare they say for woman is considered to have surgical to be down is that true ? Thank you

Accending 4.65

I have one on my ascending and descending aorta im scared to death and my dr isn't making it any better

I am 30 im 5"7 I have a leaky valve and have been told I have Loeys-Dietz and im at about 5.7 cm I know I should have surgery but is this size really that bad please answer I need to know how long I can go without it or should I have it done right away

I don't understand the math using his formula for the ratio (Ao area/height). Note I was a BAV patient and did not have an enlarged aortic root, only 4.3-4.5 enlarged ascending aorta. E.g. for a 4.5 cm aorta the area is 15.9 cm. Being 5'10" my height is 177.8 cm. The ratio is 15.9 / 177.8 = .0894 .. you can never get to 10? Or is the formula (height/area)? I've posted my actual heart sounds whacking against my heart cavity. Why am I feeling this? I suspect the graft was not sized correctly and is flopping with each beat. My surgery was in April 2016 so more than enough time has passed. This is like Chinese Water Torture living with this as it even wakes me up from my sleep. I have no confidence in any of this and don't know what to do. My cardiologist in Marshall in Placerville can't even put the correct description in the record and they are even rude to me. They say I'm complaining of palpitations. My heart beats fine so they brush it off and ignore my appeals to them. I cannot live this way... I'm an educated UC Bio major with a second degree in computer science and was a senior DBA consultant for years. I don't make things up. This is in some ways destroying my life and would have rather taken my chances with the BAV and aneurysm. What's worst is I've posted the recording of the knocking sounds and have only got 14 views. 14 views! No responses! In the age of the internet. Maybe I should say I was abducted and Aliens did the surgery LOL.

I've been at 5.2 cm for the past five years and my docs clear me each year, yet I have a bicuspid valve. SMH

This pretty much infuriates me. I have been suffering with an intense knocking with each heartbeat since my BAV valve and dacron aorta graft replacement surgery in April 2016. I have tried several times to plead with the doctors that I have an issue and they deny I'm feeling anything other than a normal heartbeat (because they can't feel what I'm feeling). Now I see with this video that they did not even need to replace the aorta with a dacron graft as my aorta was only 4.3-4.5 cm (less that the size to replace). And possibly there's an alternative to wrap the aorta with support? Yesterday I discovered I could actually record my pounding/knocking heart sounds with my cell phone and will be doing a separate post. I need people to confirm they too can hear the ridiculous knocking with each beat on the recording as I believe the dacron graft is slamming against my breastbone with each beat. The nurse refuses to see me saying I am a difficult patient saying I think I'm smarter than her because I said she cannot feel what I'm feeling and does not want to listen to me (she actually shook her finger in my face). It's hard to believe the battles I've been fighting and trying to be strong. Real life training and pray no one has to go through this, but I know it's the dacron aorta flopping against my body because there's too much slop in there. I have not been able to get a single full nights sleep since the surgery a year ago as it's like a shutter slamming in the wind all night long but is inside my body. I don't know what to do. Murphy's Law is real..

We can't have stent for ascending aorta? I have my ascending aorta 5cm

I have one at 4.6 cm

My husband died feom an aortic decesion he was in hospital foe 12 hrs and had seen the same cardiologist 30 days prior. Could he have had a chance to live if proper steps were taking in the right time?

hello. my mum is 81 and has a abdominal aortic aneurysm. she wants to stop getting checked every 6mths, and let nature take its course. it's her decision right, but is it safe?

I was just told this past week via voicemail that I have an aortic aneurysm . Most videos, searches have scared me because there is so much focus on pretty much calling in a "death trap" . I liked how you explained it. I don't even know the size as the doctor never even told me, and the only info he gave me was "its mild " come back in a year. Ticked me off, so I am asking for my medical records. I did understand though about the risk of surgery vs risk of rupturing.. damned if you do,, damned if you don't.

i have a bicuspid valve and mine was 10.7 cm

Hello, I really hope i would get an answer to my question. I live in Sweden and my mother has been preskribted medicin pradaxa 150ml 2x a day, and Metropolol orion 50ml 1 x a day. My question is, does my mother really need these two pills?? She has always been very healthy nonsmoking person, untill she one time fainted at work and had the report that it was an epidermoid zyst in her brain. She was operated and during the operation she had ia mini stroke or it looked like it as the doctors said. After 2 years everything was fine except her disiness that she always had sense then. Now she has been diagnosed with a heart-problem bisqupid aorta (from birth). She has a aorta descendens 46mm ubove heart. High blood pressure sometimes (rises without any warning) and irregular heartbeat sometimes. The doctors said she also have fibrillation. When my mother eats the Metropolol she gets dizzier and are very tired. Would it help to reduce the dosis to 25ml? Or should she stop with the pradaxa. My mother is 54 years old. Please help me. We feel that the Doctors doesnt give their best in her situation, she was alot better without these drugs. The pradaxa just give me chills. Is there any way she could only take betablocker (metropolol) and leave the pradaxa out?

Anything under 4 mm they dont want to rush into surgery, they wanna watch it

I was told I have a 4.0 cm thoracic aortic aneurysm June 2021. I thought that I had until 4.8-5.0 cm. I also have chest pressure right now when I walk and when sleeping so I assumed it is time for surgery. I also broke my ankle last year and I feel out of breath walking or standing for hours at a time. Reading the comments say "5.8 cm then survey.." gives me hope😏 I have a little more time, huh? 🤣