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Types Of Aortic Aneurysm, Diagnosis And Treatment

There’s no doubt about your heart being the most important muscle in your body, and your aorta is the largest blood vessel in the body, and aortic aneurysm is an abnormal bulge that occurs in the wall of the major blood vessel (aorta) that carries blood from your heart to your body. Although your aorta is a tough, durable workhorse, sometimes its walls can weaken and bulge in what is called an aortic aneurysm, which could cause a leak that spills blood into your body. Some aortic aneurysm burst, some don’t, others force blood flow away from your organs and tissues, causing problems, such as kidney damage, stroke, heart attacks, and even death.

Types Of Aortic Aneurysms:
There are two locations of aortic aneurysms with one being in the chest, which is a thoracic aortic aneurysm while the other is in the abdomen and is called an abdominal aortic aneurysm.

Thoracic aortic aneurysm- Genes play a major role in your chances of having an aortic aneurysm in your chest. A bicuspid aortic valve, Marfan syndrome, and Loeys-Dietz syndrome- are conditions that people can be born with that can affect the aorta. High blood pressure, infection, plaque buildup in your arteries (atherosclerosis), high cholesterol, sudden traumatic injury are the other causes for thoracic aneurysm. Symptoms often don’t show up until the aneurysm becomes large, or bursts, so you might not know you have a thoracic aortic aneurysm. But, you may notice some signs as it grows including chest or back pain, shortness of breath, coughing, hoarseness, difficulty breathing or swallowing.

Diagnosis And Treatment- Your healthcare provider often can diagnose a thoracic aortic aneurysm with tests such as an X-ray, an echocardiogram, CT scan, or ultrasound. It's also frequently monitored on an annual basis to assess for growth. Routine screenings, especially for specific genetic conditions, can also help your doctor find out if your chances are higher, and if they are, he/she might prescribe medications to lower your cholesterol and reduce your blood pressure. You might need surgery if your aneurysm becomes a major problem or grows rapidly in size where in your doctor will replace the damaged section of your aorta with a man-made tube. The graft will make that section of the aorta stronger once it’s in place.

Abdominal aortic aneurysm- This can happen in the portion of your aorta that passes through your abdomen, and there aren’t usually any telltale signs to warn you that something is wrong. You might still have back pain, a throbbing sensation near your navel and a deep pain on the side of your abdomen. You might feel sick to your stomach, or suddenly develop an intense pain in your back or abdomen if the aneurysm ruptures. Doctors don’t really know what exactly causes an abdominal aortic aneurysm, although they suspect a few things, such as high blood pressure, genetic predisposition, smoking and hardening of the arteries (which is also called atherosclerosis by doctors) might play a role. Apart from genetics playing a role, according to doctors, the risks increase if you injure yourself, have an infection, or if your blood vessels become inflamed. There can be a chance of blood clots if the doctor diagnoses you with an abdominal aneurysm.

Diagnosis And Treatment- Your doctor can sometimes detect an abdominal aortic aneurysm during a routine exam (as with a thoracic aortic aneurysm). He might also suggest an ultrasound screening especially if you are a man from 65 to 75 years old who has ever smoked, or he thinks your chances of getting an aortic aneurysm are high. If your doctor finds a bulge, and it’s small, he might want to keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn’t get bigger and become a problem later. You might need surgery if the aneurysm is large.

Hope, you find this information to be useful.
Join a CPR program today and face out-of-hospital cardiac emergencies efficiently. CPR Kansas City offers CPR courses for healthcare as well as non-healthcare providers. You can either register online, or call on 913-998-7499.
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