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.
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.
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.
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.
Some other symptoms can be shortness of breath, nausea, weakness, and pain in the back. A person’s health care provider would measure their blood pressure, cholesterol, and sugar levels to see if they are at risk. The diagnosing tools would be electrocardiogram, echocardiogram, exercise stress test, chest X-Ray, cardiac catheterization, and coronary angiogram. All of these tools are helpful when testing to diagnose Coronary artery disease.
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 valve, and ascending aortic arch. The right side has to work harder but can't sustain
The Symptoms of this disease are hard to see when someone is presently standing in front of you, but listen to their chest or observe them run and you will notice an extra beat with a swooshing sound, and that They get tired faster than normal these are two of the symptoms the others are an inability to lose weight and chest pain If you have these symptoms calm down you most likely don’t have aortic stenosis only 4% of Americans have it a
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.
An aortic aneurysm is a stretch or bulge in the aorta. The thoracic aorta is the chest section of aorta, which pumps the blood from the heart out to the body. Therefore, a thoracic aortic aneurysm is a stretched and bulged area in the wall of the chest section of the aorta. (Thompson, G. & Szalay, D. 2012). “Thoracic aneurysms are classified in accordance with the portion of aorta involved: the ascending thoracic aorta, the arch, or the descending thoracic aorta. This anatomic distinction is important because the etiology, natural history, and treatment of thoracic aneurysms vary for each of these segments”. (Medscape,
A physical exam. Your health care provider may hear an abnormal sound (bruit) when listening to the carotid arteries.
A congenital heart defect is an issue with the actual anatomy of the heart. This issue is normally presented at the time of birth. Congenital heart defects are some of the most common type of birth defect. Eight out of one thousand newborns are diagnosed with a congenital heart defect. Congenital defects can often affect any anatomical part of the heart. It can affect the valves, walls, arteries and veins near the heart. Congenital defects can affect the flow of blood through the heart, they can cause it to go the wrong direction, be blocked or slowed down. “Although aortic coarctation can occur anywhere along the aorta, the coarctation is most often located near a blood vessel called the ductus arteriosus”. (2)
○ Ultrasound. This test uses sound waves to make an image of your affected area.
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
There are two types of aortic aneurysms — thoracic and abdominal. Both can be inherited as autosomal dominant heart diseases. Thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAA) occur in the part of the aorta running through the chest area, while abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) occur in the part of the aorta running through the abdomen. The aorta is the main blood vessel, or artery, that transports blood from the heart to the rest of the body. Aneurysms in the aorta are a bulges in the blood vessel walls that cause various health problems.
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.