Calcified Aeorta

Is a calcified aeorta something that should be taken seriously?
My doctor saw it in a routine chest x-ray and told me about it.
He has since died..
Is there any treatment for this if necessary.
I am 58 years old.
ken

[Cleveland Clinic]

Calcification of the aortic wall usually is a result of atherosclerosis, which can also cause an aortic dilatation called an aneurysm. I would suggest a CT of the aorta to see its maximal diameter. If there is no aneurysm present, it may still be a marker for atherosclerosis, and so many people may advocate treatment with cholesterol lowering medications known as statins. In the absence of an aneurysm, it places you at hiher risk for a stroke or embolic event if you were to undergo bypass or aortic surgery.

[mrwjd]

With your doctor deceased, you may want to hook up with another doctor, probably a cardiologist, on this question.  For now, do you recall if your doctor gave the impression that calcification might be in a limited area?  

The reason I ask is that it is not uncommon for the aortic valve, between the heart and the aorta, to become calcified more or less in isolation, while the arteries remain relatively free of atherosclerosis.  Since you haven't walked this road (unlike many others on this forum), it would be easy for you to recall "aorta" when he said "aortic valve."

Don't panic, but you may want an echocardiogram in the near future, to determine if your aorta or aortic valve or both are calcified and to what extent.  If it is an isolated valve condition, treatment may be quite different from that administered if the aorta or other arteries are involved.  Either way, the condition will be progressive, and you don't want to risk racking up preventable damage to your heart by putting off the diagnosis too long.

You are the perfect age, take it from me--I was that age not so long ago.   ;-)  Actually, depending on the cause, any age is good for aortic valve calcification, while you are kind of in the prime years for discovering atherosclerosis.  The sooner you find out what it is, the more damage control you will be able to do.  

After you discover what's happening in your chest, you will find that this website has a ton of information on either condition.  Or if you're like me, you could start reading it now, and have more time to obsess.  :-P