Ascending aortic

[lily721]

My mother is 84 and was found to have an aneurysm , size is 5.70 on the ascending aortic . The only hope is an operation . What are her chances of making it through the operation and recovering? She has Arthritis in both knees and it's very difficult for her to walk. She is also 50 lbs overweight. Without the operation she may have a year left. Anyone ever go through something like this if so what were the results?

Thank you Lily


This discussion is related to SEVERE LEFT ATRIAL DILATION.

[skydnsr]

Will be thinking about you.

[lily721]

Thank u for you for your comments

[skydnsr]

An aortic aneurysm repair on an 84 year-old would be a high-risk, high-reward proposition.  It's open-heart surgery, and it's more technically difficult than a lot of other types of heart surgery.  The outcome could go either way, and that's if you could even find a surgeon who would want to do it.  Her best chance would be to go to a major heart center that has a thoracic aortic surgery program.  

If the aneurysm is not growing very fast, and if she is not symptomatic from it, then it's possible she might still live a long time, even without the operation.  That's something else on which I would want to hear the opinion of a truly expert surgeon.  Maybe she has had this for decades, and maybe it is only growing about a millimeter per year.  You really don't know, unless it has been monitored for a while.

How does your mother feel about having the operation?  Because, if she doesn't want to do it, I think that's your answer, right there.  If she's interested in doing it, then I would try to get her in to one of the top thoracic aortic surgery centers in the country, and see what their doctors have to say.