Aortic aneurysm (chest)
Overview-
The aorta is the largest artery in the body and is the blood vessel that carries oxygen-rich blood away from the heart to all parts of the body. It widens and balloons the portion of an artery due to weakness in the wall of the blood vessel. A thoracic aortic aneurysm occurs in the part of the body's largest artery (the aorta) that passes through the chest. Depending on its location and size, it may rupture or dissect (tear), causing life-threatening internal bleeding. When detected in time, a thoracic aortic aneurysm can often be repaired with surgery or other less invasive techniques.
Symptoms-
As a thoracic aortic aneurysm grows, some people may notice:
• Tearing pain in the chest, abdomen, and/or middle of
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• Sometimes people who have problems with the valve that blood flows through as it leaves your heart have an increased risk of thoracic aortic aneurysm.
• Some people who are injured in falls or motor vehicle crashes develop thoracic aortic aneurysms.
Diagnosis-
The physical exam is often normal unless a rupture or leak has occurred. This includes:
• Chest X-ray- Your doctor may first suspect you have a thoracic aortic aneurysm by looking at chest X-ray images. Your doctor may discover a thoracic aortic aneurysm on X-ray images ordered to check for another condition.
• Echocardiogram-Thoracic aortic aneurysms may be diagnosed by echocardiogram, and this technique is often used to screen family members of those with thoracic aortic aneurysm.
• Computerized tomography (CT) scan-This painless test can provide your doctor with clear images of your aorta, and it can detect the size and shape of an aneurysm. During a CT scan, you lie on a table inside a doughnut-shaped machine.
• Magnetic resonance angiography (MRA)-An MRA is a painless imaging test that may be used to diagnose an aneurysm and determine its size and location. In this test, you lie on a movable table that slides into the tunnel.
other intense tests can be done to make the diagnosis much clearer such as Doppler echocardiogram, this uses sound waves to show the function of the right ventricle to measure the blood flow through the heart valves, and then calculate the systolic pulmonary artery pressure. There is also an X-ray, this is done on the chest. This can show any increase or decrease in size of the right ventricle and arteries. A simpler test such as the 6-minute walk test, this controls exercise patience level and blood oxygen saturation level during exercise. There is also a Pulmonary function test, this seeks for other lung conditions such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis compared to others. Also there is a 'Polysomnogram or overnight oximetry', this monitors sleep apnea (results in low oxygen levels at night). Also a right heart catheterization, this measures various heart pressures ( inside the pulmonary arteries, coming from the left side of the heart), the rate at which the heart is able to pump blood, and finds any leaks between the right and left sides of the heart.
You may need to have blood tests, a test to check heart rhythm (electrocardiography), or echocardiography to evaluate your heart valves and the blood flow through them.
Aortic stenosis results due to narrowing of aortic valve or adjacent part of aorta. This leads to a development of pressure gradient between left ventricle and aorta increasing the left ventricular pressure and hypertrophy. It is very rare in children.
aortic valve, and ascending aortic arch. The right side has to work harder but can't sustain
Using a stethoscope can pick out a heart murmur. Each murmur has a slightly different sound to it and you have to train yourself to be able to differentiate between them.
The most common cause is hypertension, or high blood pressure. Stress, smoking, high cholesterol, and obesity can also lead to stress of the heart and aorta, which can lead to the aneurysm. A family history of heart problems, high blood pressure or aneurysms may raise a patient’s risk of having their own aneurysm. Other than the health reasons above, there are also some medical disorders that can weaken the aorta, thus increasing the chance of aneurysm. These disorders are: Marfan Syndrome (a genetic disorder that affects the connective tissue), Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (another inherited connective tissue disorder), syphilis and
Personally I’ve had them all. I get my gene for my disease from my mother’s side. It isn’t a 100% accurate but my mother’s relatives are the only side that has heart issues, such as a reverse heart at berth that needed extensive heart surgery to flip it around. Every person that has aortic valve stenosis can't take medicine to cure the disease. They must have surgery, depending on how bad the back flow of blood is. In conclusion, this is my report on aortic valve
Some further tests that can be done are a Computed tomography scan (CT), Magnetic resonance imaging of the heart (MRI), by taking an X-ray which may show an enlarged heart, abnormal structure and arrangement of the abdominal organs and an Echocardiogram or Ultrasound of the heart.
A physical exam. Your health care provider may hear an abnormal sound (bruit) when listening to the carotid arteries.
Venography – this test is a special x-ray and more accurate than the ultrasound. A radioactive dye is injected into the vein to help illuminate the blood clot.
Specific blood tests also can be an accurate diagnostic tool. A kidney biopsy can also provide accurate results. Chest x-ray, ultrasound, and electrocardiogram can be effectively used (Stevens, 2009).
The most common heart disease that most people have is coronary artery disease. Coronary artery disease tends to cause heart attacks. When a substance of plaque builds up in your arteries, heart disease may occur. When plaque builds up, a person’s arteries can narrow over time, limiting blood flow to the heart. This could also block the blood flow. This process is called
The types diagnostic that maybe ordered by the provider are x-ray to see the occultation of fluid noted in the lower lobes of the lungs and check the size of the heart.
The human body is a highly complex system of organs that operates efficiently at a cellular level to ensure proper functionality and longevity of the human race. However, even the slightest changes to its operation can lead to complications. In order to better understand the human body and how it works; an understanding of the diseases it is susceptible to is necessary. The cardiovascular system, in particular, is vulnerable to debilitating disease such as aneurysms, which is a ballooning of a blood vessel, or even an embolism (when any foreign body enters the blood stream). Blood vessels include arteries, capillaries and veins and therefore these events can occur anywhere in the body (i.e. the heart or the brain). There are different types of aneurysms including saccular, fusiform and pseudo-aneurysms. Saccular aneurysms only develop on part of the vessel wall and are spherical in shape. Fusiform aneurysms are ovoid in shape and develop over the entire vessel cross section. Pseudo-aneurysms are not true aneurysms but they occur as a result of a tear in the vessel wall thus collecting the blood pooled by extravascular tissue (Group). The exact cause of an aneurysm is not known but is correlated with certain previous existing conditions. Existing conditions that may have an effect on the development of an aneurysm are inherited predispositions to this disease, lifestyles, and high blood pressure. Some individuals are predisposed to developing aneurysms if their blood
An AAA (abdominal aortic aneurysm) is defined as enlargement of at least 3 cm of the abdominal aorta. The majority of abdominal aortic aneurysms begins below the renal arteries and ends above the iliac arteries. The exact cause of (AAAs) is unknown. However, it is thought to be due to a degenerative process of the abdominal aorta caused by atherosclerosis. Artherosclerosis represents a response to vessel wall injury caused by inflammation, genetically regulated defects in collagen and fibrillin, increased protease activity within the arterial wall, and mechanical factors (Stoelting p. 143).