Hey everyone,
Glad I found this forum! It nice to see posts from other people going through the same thing.
Just a little history on myself. I'm a 28 year old medical student with a history of bicuspid aortic valve replacement who just recently got diagnosed with a 4.6x4.7 cm ascending aortic aneurysm last week
I was originally diagnosed with BAV at 16 years old when my pediatrician heard a heart murmur and had me get an echo. I was diagnosed with moderate-severe aortic regurgitation and was monitored initially with echos every 3 months, then 6 months, then every year because it stayed about the same. Then at the age of 22 the regurgitation got bad enough that I needed a valve replacement. I ended up geting a bioprosthetic bovine pericardial valve because I was so young and active and did not want to be on blood thinners the rest of my life. The surgery went well but 2 weeks after, I developed a fever and some shortness of breath. I went back to the hospital and was found to have an infection in my blood stream and a large pericardial effusion which required drainage. They never found the source of the infection and luckily my valve survived without any problems. I just needed to be on 2 months of IV antibiotics after discharge.
Everything was fine and dandy after that. I moved cities to go to med school and was getting yearly echos to check the valve. Then at my appointment 6 months ago my cardiologist (a cardiology fellow at the my school) told me of the association with aortic disease and BAV (which I was unaware of until recently). He suggested I get a cardiac MRI because my aorta had always been slightly enlarged on echo. I ended up getting the MRI a few months later. Last week, the cardiologist told me I had a 4.6x4.7 cm ascending aortic aneurysm and needed a repeat MRI in 6 months to monitor it. He said if it changed in size I should get surgery, if not, a yearly MRI to watch it would work and that they usually operate at >5.0 cm.
I am thankful that cardiology fellow suggested I get a MRI, but me, being a good medical student that I am, started researching more about aortic aneurysms and BAV. I found a recent article which specified a subpopulation of people with BAV that suggested surgery at >4.5 cm. To my luck, one of them was "Small Adult Body Size" which unfortunately I fall under only being 5' 4". I did the calculation based off of aortic area and height which put me at 10.8 (I think its the Cleveland Clinic equation with cutoff for surgery being >10).
I then emailed the cardiology fellow with this information late last week and he has yet to respond which has been really stressful. I've been here the past few days anxiously awaiting a response! Being in the medical field I know the bad things that can happen with aortic aneurysms and this is driving me nuts, especially since I'm in the population that should have it repaired at >4.5cm. Regardless of what he says, I definitely want to get a second opinion on this whole matter because initially he said no surgery yet, but according to my research I should be having it.
It has been helpful finding this forum and reading other people's experiences. I'm just really nervous now about the size of my aorta and having to get open heart surgery again...Even worse is that I'm about to start my last year of medical school and I've been trying to think of how I can get this surgery done, apply for residency this year and still graduate on time. Talk about stress!
I'll keep you guys updated with what happens. Thanks for your support.
P.S. I'm in the CHICAGO area, so if anyone knows a good cardiologist and cardiothoracic surgeon in the area please drop a few names!!!
Thanks,
RBCola
Glad I found this forum! It nice to see posts from other people going through the same thing.
Just a little history on myself. I'm a 28 year old medical student with a history of bicuspid aortic valve replacement who just recently got diagnosed with a 4.6x4.7 cm ascending aortic aneurysm last week
I was originally diagnosed with BAV at 16 years old when my pediatrician heard a heart murmur and had me get an echo. I was diagnosed with moderate-severe aortic regurgitation and was monitored initially with echos every 3 months, then 6 months, then every year because it stayed about the same. Then at the age of 22 the regurgitation got bad enough that I needed a valve replacement. I ended up geting a bioprosthetic bovine pericardial valve because I was so young and active and did not want to be on blood thinners the rest of my life. The surgery went well but 2 weeks after, I developed a fever and some shortness of breath. I went back to the hospital and was found to have an infection in my blood stream and a large pericardial effusion which required drainage. They never found the source of the infection and luckily my valve survived without any problems. I just needed to be on 2 months of IV antibiotics after discharge.
Everything was fine and dandy after that. I moved cities to go to med school and was getting yearly echos to check the valve. Then at my appointment 6 months ago my cardiologist (a cardiology fellow at the my school) told me of the association with aortic disease and BAV (which I was unaware of until recently). He suggested I get a cardiac MRI because my aorta had always been slightly enlarged on echo. I ended up getting the MRI a few months later. Last week, the cardiologist told me I had a 4.6x4.7 cm ascending aortic aneurysm and needed a repeat MRI in 6 months to monitor it. He said if it changed in size I should get surgery, if not, a yearly MRI to watch it would work and that they usually operate at >5.0 cm.
I am thankful that cardiology fellow suggested I get a MRI, but me, being a good medical student that I am, started researching more about aortic aneurysms and BAV. I found a recent article which specified a subpopulation of people with BAV that suggested surgery at >4.5 cm. To my luck, one of them was "Small Adult Body Size" which unfortunately I fall under only being 5' 4". I did the calculation based off of aortic area and height which put me at 10.8 (I think its the Cleveland Clinic equation with cutoff for surgery being >10).
I then emailed the cardiology fellow with this information late last week and he has yet to respond which has been really stressful. I've been here the past few days anxiously awaiting a response! Being in the medical field I know the bad things that can happen with aortic aneurysms and this is driving me nuts, especially since I'm in the population that should have it repaired at >4.5cm. Regardless of what he says, I definitely want to get a second opinion on this whole matter because initially he said no surgery yet, but according to my research I should be having it.
It has been helpful finding this forum and reading other people's experiences. I'm just really nervous now about the size of my aorta and having to get open heart surgery again...Even worse is that I'm about to start my last year of medical school and I've been trying to think of how I can get this surgery done, apply for residency this year and still graduate on time. Talk about stress!
I'll keep you guys updated with what happens. Thanks for your support.
P.S. I'm in the CHICAGO area, so if anyone knows a good cardiologist and cardiothoracic surgeon in the area please drop a few names!!!
Thanks,
RBCola
