St. Luke's Numbers

[cbdheartman]

Are the numbers/percentages listed on the St. Luke's website (http://www.slrctsurgery.com/Thoracic aortic aneurysms.htm) generally considered accurate.

I have if those numbers are accurate that they are definitely a factor in favor of surgery now!

 

[Ross]

Dude your going to drive yourself insane unnecessarily. Forget these silly studies and stats and go with what your gut feeling is telling you too.

 

[cbdheartman]

The Problem is

The Problem is

I am conflicted! My gut was leaning one way and then i met with Svensson and I am confused. If I had to say what my gut says now, it still says wait, but my head is starting to say, "You fool, why would you wait?"

 

[ALCapshaw2]

Ask yourself some Basic Questions.

1 - Is there anything besides Surgery that can make your Aneurism 'go away'?

2 - If Not, what is the Benefit of Waiting?

3 - What is the Risk of Waiting?

4 - What are you Waiting for?

 

[Ross]

I am conflicted! My gut was leaning one way and then i met with Svensson and I am confused. If I had to say what my gut says now, it still says wait, but my head is starting to say, "You fool, why would you wait?"

I know and your frustrated also. I'm really not trying to shoot down your reasoning concepts. I'm only trying to drive the point home that no matter what, it has to be dealt with. Does it really matter if you wait? It very well could. That is the risk that is not worth taking. Believe me, had it not happened to me and the commorbidities along with it, I wouldn't be persistent in trying to get you to go now. My renal system is forever screwed up, I have Cardiomegaly for life and seems something new is developing all the time. It's just not worth it.

Remember, my newly found 3.6 abdominal aneurysm is already scaring the hell out of me. I want it fixed NOW, but here I sit again, waiting for that damn magic number of 5.0.

 

[cbdheartman]

Are the death rates on this chart the rates of death from aneurysm rupture/dissection or from any cause? That is, are the charts showing us the annual death rate from any cause for people with those aneurysms? If not, then can some explain the death rate numbers vis-a-vis the lower percentages for dissection/rupture?

In short, with a 4.9 cm aortic root aneurysm am I faced with a 4.6% of death this year from it?

Also again where do these numbers come from?

Thanks!

 

[ALCapshaw2]

You raise some good questions.

I read the article from St. Lukes and it is not clear if those statistics are for their hospital, nationwide, or some other hospital.

The death rates, and especially the rates for a 3.5 cm aneurism, seem disproportionately HIGH when compared with the numbers for larger aneurisms. Personally, I do not understand how/why the risks at 3.5 cm would be greater than the risks at 4.0 and/or 5.0 cm

That said, it is also clear that once an aneurism is larger than 3.5 cm, the Risk of a Morbid Event or Mortality is Greater than ZERO and the difference between 4mm and 5mm is not all that great. The recommendation for waiting until 5.0 or 5.5 cm is based on an (OLD) assessment of Surgical Risk.

Once again, the Better the Surgeon, the Lower the Surgical Risk and the Lower the 'crossover' between Surgical Risk and Risk of an adverse event with the aneurism.

Bottom Line: (IMO) Surgery for an Aortic Aneurism follows the VR.com mantra about surgery for Bad Valves, i.e., SOONER is BETTER.

This is my very NON-Professional Opinion.