Do I Need An Operation?
Diagnosing an Aortic Aneurysm
 Aneurysm of the aortic root |
 Aneurysm of the aortic arch |
Diagnosing an Aortic Aneurysm
Diagnosis of an aortic aneurysm before symptoms occur is ideal, but unfortunately, diagnosis often takes place only when symptoms arise. Because aneurysms may cause no symptoms until the aneurysm tears, many go undetected until they burst.
Of those aneurysms that are found before patients develop serious symptoms, most are detected incidentally in the process of conducting evaluations for other conditions. Most commonly, a routine physical exam may allow for the detection of a heart murmur. This finding will often prompt your doctor to perform an echocardiogram. This test will allow for accurate imaging of the aortic valve and the first portion of the aorta. Aneurysms may also be seen on a routine X-ray or a CT scan ordered for an unrelated purpose. Sometimes people may feel pain in the chest or back, so a chest x-ray or CT scan is performed. Alternatively, a person may have a scan following an accident or injury.
Diagnosing an Aortic Dissection
Detection of aortic dissection can be tricky because the same symptoms occur in conjunction with many other health problems. Aortic dissection is frequently misdiagnosed in the emergency room as a heart attack. Prompt diagnosis is essential, however: type A dissections are surgical emergencies, with a mortality rate of almost two percent per hour after onset.
Diagnosis can be made by CT scan of the chest and/or a transesophageal echocardiography (TEE, or ultrasound images of the heart taken from within the esophagus).
If a type A aortic dissection is strongly suspected, the patient is transported from our emergency room, or from an outside hospital, directly to the operating room for a confirmation of diagnosis via TEE. For those found to have a type A aortic dissection, surgical repair is performed immediately.
