Please tell me what you know about this and how I can be of any assistance to him. I live with him and my sister and he is a very nice man. He said the doctor said that the abdominal ultrasound showed the aneurysm at "4.2"; but that she would not consider surgery until it was a "4.5 or more".. what does those numbers mean? Anything you can help me with regarding this would be deeply appreciated!
2006-11-30 05:17:24 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Health ➔ Diseases & Conditions ➔ Heart Diseases
p.s they did not say if it was in his heart or his abdominal area. How serious is this and can he still continue to have a long life?
2006-11-30 05:17:58 · update #1
The doctor was correct. We do not operate on abdominal aneurysms until either:
1) they exceed 5cm or
2) grow more than 0.5cm/year.
With good control of cholesterol and blood pressure, as well as complete smoking cessation, his risk of rupturing is fairly low.
When the doc starts talking surgery, make sure that they at least consider the possibility of endovascular repair. This means a stent is threaded into the aneurysm and then expanded.
Be sure that he is seeing a board certified vascular surgeon.
Avoid the local hack that makes his bread & butter with gall bladders and appendectomies. See an expert in aneurysms!
2006-12-01 12:15:48 · answer #1 · answered by ckm1956 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If she did an abdominal ultrasound then it is most likely in his abdomen. An aneursym is when the layers that make up a blood vessel wall weaken and seperate. The balloon out and cause a sace to form around the vessel. Kinda like a bulge around the vessel. This sac then fills with blood. This causes a few problems. First and most importantly it puts a severe strain on the wall of vessel. This vessel wall gives way from the pressure and it could be deadly because he could bleed to death in a few minutes depending on where it is. Nextly it can potentially be painful to have. But pain med typically control that. As for the measurements those are the size of the aneurysm. She measured the sac around the vessel. She decided it is not big enough to operate on. It will most likely get bigger because of the continually strain from the blood filling it. As for helping him...just be of help around the house. If you want to watch him make sure it has not burst check his pulse if it is weak and very fast (over 100 a minute at rest) then he is having a problem of some sort. also rapid breathing (over 20 times a minute at rest) can signal a problem. If he is very weak suddenly and pale that is another indicator something is wrong. If it should burst the only thing that remedy it is emergency surgery as it is internal and there is no way of applying pressure to stop the bleeding. Good luck!
2006-11-30 13:35:41 · answer #2 · answered by Charis 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
An aneurysm is a ballooning out of a vessel wall. In this case it is an abdominal aortic aneurysm which means it is of the aorta located in the abdomen since they did an "abdominal" ultrasound to look at it. The 4.2 and 4.5 refer to size in centimeters. He will no doubt have some restrictions on his activity and will be monitored so that when the time it right it can be corrected.
2006-11-30 13:21:38 · answer #3 · answered by Tulip 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most likely your Brother-In-Law has a 4.2 centimeter (2.54 cm = 1 inch) abdominal aorta. If this is followed by sonography he should not be in any danger although I do not have a magic 'size' above which I would refer someone for consideration of surgery. Rather the decision about whether or not he should be seen by a surgeon should be based upon a more thorough cardiovascular risk assessment and indeed the more technical details of the aneurysm besides its size. If he is seeing an average or better physician there should be no concern.
2006-11-30 17:35:04 · answer #4 · answered by john e russo md facm faafp 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My grandfather had an abdominal aortic aneurysm and he didn't know it. It burst on him one day and he almost died.. the doctors did emergency surgery on him and said he had less than a 5% chance to live. Luckily, he made it!!
These things are very dangerous, but since your brother-in-law found it out before it got so big he should be fine. They can remove it with a 96% chance of survival or something like that before it gets to a point where it will burst.
Don't worry too much, he is lucky they found it.
2006-11-30 13:19:22 · answer #5 · answered by Pashta 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't know about what the numbers mean, so keep in mind that this is coming from a layman's point of view.
An aneurysm is when the walls of a blood vessel weaken and start inflating rather like a baloon. Does the doctor have any other treatments he is proposing? If not, nag or help your brother find a doctor who is in a better position to help.
Your brother is probably tired a lot, and with good reason: The blood isn't moving like it should. You can help by not letting him over-exert himself. Beyond that, I'm not sure what to say.
Good luck!
2006-11-30 13:35:07 · answer #6 · answered by Tigger 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
this aneurysm is in the aorta (abdomen).
he will need follow up with ultrasound (every 6 months).
this aneuryssm enlarges at a rate of 1 cm per year (but not necessary).
the surgery carries a moderate risk meaning its not a easy surgery but not very difficult too & it depends on the patient's general condition.
do NOT wory too much about it, he islucky he got diagnosed early
2006-11-30 13:25:22 · answer #7 · answered by drinda_house 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
an aneurysm is usually a bubble of air in the bloodstreem that is dorment, but i heard that it can be knocked out of place and will cause death.
he is lucky that he has caught it and that the doctors know where it is, maybe they can do something about it ... good to him .
2006-11-30 13:22:18 · answer #8 · answered by joey h 3 · 0⤊ 3⤋