Who wants to see my dilated aorta working in real time?

[DavesMom]

Thanks for posting! Those are amazingly cool. Good luck with your appointment and keep us posted.

Cheers,
Michelle

 

[Bryan B]

Just a real quick update. I had my consult with my cardio today and basically she said what I have already been thinking. If the valve can be saved we do surgery asap (David procedure) and if the valve is considered too damaged to save we do a Bentalls procedure, but not necessarily right away. Although the aortic root is dilated to 4.4cm and the aorta is dilated to 5.27cm there is actually no aneurysm present at this time. By "not right away" I really don't know what time frame that means, but I gathered that time would be measured in months and not years. I have an appointment to see Dr. Jaggers (the surgeon who did my Ross) a week from Friday (21st...first appointment he had open). He will be reviewing my latest echo and the MRI and it's kind of his call on whether he decides the valve can be spared or not. Either way it looks like surgery is the not too distant future. It's just a matter of "valve can be spared...let's fix it immediately" or "valve can't be spared let's fix soon but maybe enjoy the rest of the summer and maybe the holidays too before surgery". To tell you the truth I'm as confused or more confused now than I was before the appointment today. Oh...and it turns out the the person that did my MRI was actually a cardiologist (at first I was told he was not). He's the one that went over the pictures with me and told me that surgery could be in 2 months or 2 years but he thought it would be closer to 2 months. It looks like I will have to wait until the 21st, but I should have a definitive answer on that day.

As much as I don't want another surgery it looks like it can't be avoided. If my surgeon feels that the valve can be spared and last indefinitely (since it's an autograft which is my own tissue) then I am willing to jump on the OR table ASAP. That's what I have all my digits crossed for but I'm already researching and mulling over the alternatives if the entire "transmission" has to be replaced.

 

[zipper2]

WOW Bryan!!!!! TOO REAL WOW all i can say
Thanks for sharing this.

 

[skeptic49]

Although the aortic root is dilated to 4.4cm and the aorta is dilated to 5.27cm there is actually no aneurysm present at this time. .

Huh???

Isn't a 5.27cm dilalted aorta a fusiform aneurysm?

Jim

 

[Bryan B]

Huh???

Isn't a 5.27cm dilalted aorta a fusiform aneurysm?

Jim

I had to look fusiform up skeptic and that sure sounds like what I have. But I'm about to post a discussion me and my surgeon (the one that did the Ross Procedure) had today during my appointment with him.

 

[Bryan B]

Here are the last MRI pictures I'm going to post. I had 4 pics to post but 2 of them are too large to post without a pic host (don't feel like messing with that).

This picture is of my aortic valve opening and closing:

 

[Bryan B]

One more and that's it. This is by far not the best in a series of gifs showing how my aortic root balloons as the aortic valve pumps blood through it. BTW I'm going to start a separate post about my meeting today with my surgeon (the one that did my Ross Procedure) and what my options are.

 

[Ross]

While they are so cool, it's also very scary.

 

[cp172]

I am at a loss for words as I really do not understand exactly what I am seeing in the pictures. It is amazing that the body has such complex components such as the heart. I agree with Ross it looks scary. The bulges look like something that needs attention.

 

[Eva]

I am at a loss for words as I really do not understand exactly what I am seeing in the pictures. It is amazing that the body has such complex components such as the heart. I agree with Ross it looks scary. The bulges look like something that needs attention.

WOW! I can say and I am also amazed by what I saw even though not very comprehensible to me. Thanks for sharing them...interesting.

Take care