MRI measurements.

[themalteser]

Hello All - I wonder how many of you have experienced the following:

Back in 2010 my MRI shown that my sinus of valsalva measured 33mm X 44mm and an ascending aorta of 33. The CT scan, done at the same time measures my sinus at 47mm and aorta at 36mm.

Last February my MRI measured my sinus of Valsalva at 42mm X 45mm and my ascending 34mm.

Six months later, my MRI is showing my my sinus of valsalva at 44mm X 45mm and ascending of 38mm

The MRIs' have been performed in different hospitals.

On top of that, my echoes are almost always different!

I'm not sure whether to think this is alarming or not, my cardiologist said that it's very little change and nothing needs to be done. It's frustrating, however, that I am not certain whether there is a change or whether this is just the way my aorta is being measured!

Has anyone ever experienced so much discrepancies in measurements?

Thank you in advance.

 

[Texanbarbie]

I definitely understand your frustration since I have had the same experience. My sinus of valsalva has been increasing in size every year however my ascending aortic aneurysm measurements fluctuate from 4.1 cm to 4.4 cm. It's my understanding that the CT is more accurate than an MRI so I'm going with my CT measurement of 4.4 cm from 2008. My last MRI showed the ascending aortic aneurysm at 3.5 cm and when my cardiologist questioned the radiologist, he was told it was measured differently this time but there was no change. Now that's frustrating because it's hard to keep track when they measure it differently. My echoes have been all over the place too. What I have decided to do is change cardiologist and then have my MRIs done at the same place every year and have the same tech do the echo every year if possible. I think the majority of the discrepancies come from different machines, different techs and different radiologists.