Aa
Dialated Aorta
My Dad is 79 years old and suffers from emphasema and copd.Recently he was admitted into the hospital with a blood oxygen count of 68% and is now on oxygen full time.As a result of this he underwent a stress test with sonogram which revealed a dialated aorta of 4.1 cent.The doctor said at 5 surgery is required but he thought dads lungs were to weak for surgery.Is this life threatening if he maintains a moderate blood pressure level and have you heard of anyone with similar conditions undergoing aorta surgery.
Normally, for most people the normal size for an aorta is about 3.5cm. When the size reaches 4.0 cm (size is an estimate), it is called an aneursym, and when the size is 5.0 or larger surgery becomes an option. The danger is the risk that the vessel will rupture, but there are aneursyms much larger on record that don't rupture. Maintain a low blood pressure can/will help decrease any progression.
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