Kathy~What country do you live in. Usually in the U.S., the enlargement of an aortic root is given in centimeters. Having said that, I recently (August this year) had ascending thoracic aneurysm surgery with a st jude valve implantation. If they told you that you have an enlarged aortic root....that, translated is ANEURYSM. If it is 4cms or larger, surgery is usually indicated if it is an ascending (on the way up to the aorta). My comedian, I mean cardiologist (sarcasm intended) wrote me a LETTER telling me I had an "enlarged aortic root." So what I thought, I knew I had surgery for a leaky valve in '97 and that I get echo's every year, so I thought, no big deal. We moved, I lost track of the last echo and my last one was I think in 2006. That was when I got the aforementioned letter telling me about the "4cm aortic root." THEY NEED TO START TELLING PEOPLE, IN ENGLISH, THAT THIS IS AN A N E U R Y S M!!! By the time I went for my 2008 echo, it had enlarged to 7 cm's!!! I had surgery on Aug 29, 2008. The surgeon was world reknowned and thankfully, in network. (JOHNS HOPKINS in BALTIMORE). He said that was the largest he'd ever seen in a person still walking around!
Sorry for the rant, but to answer your question....YES YOU NEED AN ECHO, YES YOU SHOULD BE WORRIED IF THAT NUMBER YOU GAVE ME TRANSLATES INTO 4CM's or more!!!
Colleen
my story click here
www.medhelp.org/personal_pages/user/552012