Wall Street Journal, Tuesday November 4th

[Arlyss]

The Tuesday, November 4th, Wall Street Journal has a front page article entitled "Medical Ignorance Contributes to Toll From Aortic Illness". I did not list the online link here as the article is only available to online subscribers. The local library will certainly have a copy. Kevin Helliker, who has an aortic aneurym, has written this article along with Thomas Burton. I found it a very powerful description of the lack of knowledge regarding aortic disease in the medical community and the resultant failure to diagnose and treat aortic dissection. Bicuspid aortic valve disease is not mentioned explicitly, but I hope that the word is getting out that those with BAVs are at risk. Based on this article, many doctors do not know about aortic disease, and patients and their families need to be prepared to help educate them. And more than that, to insist that proper diagnostic tests be done, because lives are at stake.

Arlyss

 

[ccrawford]

Arlyss - I read the article this morning. It was quite well done and I hope it spurs some effort to getting higher awareness of the need to routinely scan for aneurysms. The article pointed out that there was a real hole in the educational process and that many docs don't look for problems nor beleive that there could be solutions if a problem was found. There is also a problem in the insurance industry in that there is not a specific code (read fee schedule) to test, and any testing that gets done is usually done as a byproduct of something else. I went in for a 6 month echo a few weeks ago, and was surprised to find that my doc now scans the aorta as part of this procedure. Was glad to see that. I would encourage all VR.com readers to talk to your doc about this and encourage them to push for higher awareness of aortic disease and the need for routine tests. I plan to send the article to my cardio. Chris

 

[epstns]

Thanks for the "haeds-up" on the article.

The specific knowledge gained here at VR.com clued me in to what to look for -- and that's one of the reasons I'm so pleased with my present cardio. At the initial evaluation meeting, he scheduled both an echo and evaluation of my aorta, as he was suspicious that I have a BAV.

Let's hope the rest of the world soon learns before they have problems.