What are the effects of altitude on Aortic Anurysm?

Question

My mother has an anurysm on her aorta. We want to go to Colorado Springs with an altitude of 6800 ft. Will this altitude have any effect on the anurysm?

Answer 1

That would depend on the diameter and if she has any symptoms. My mom has one that is stable at 5 cm, and we are leaving tomorrow to head to Denver, but we are driving. Surely there are people that live in Colorado Springs and other high altitudes that carry unruptured fusiform dilations of their abdominal aortas without undue effects of altitude.

Just to be on the safe side, and for authoritative approval, go ahead and call her primary care physician. You will need to leave a message, make sure the receptionist writes the question down to give to him/her, more likely to get a call back since s/he knows the short answer, and won't get caught up in a prolonged conversation. Unless s/he is up to date and you can contact via email. My PCP does not do this, but my daughter's pediatrician is available via email and it is GREAT!

Answer 2

For someone who is not accustomed to higher altitude there will be lower blood oxygen saturations than your body is normally used to. For instance in lower elevations a normal person saturates at 98-99-100%. In higher elevations people commonly saturate at 92%. Would this affect anything? Hard to say other than possibly increasing heart rate. It should not affect blood pressure. Therefore there should not be any substantial increase in risk. If your mother is stable enough to walk around day-to-day in lower elevations, then she should do fine in higher elevations - with the caveat that she probably will tired more easily and may get short of breath with less exertion...so plan a relaxing visit for her, rather than one that involves a lot of walking around. Good luck.