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MRA Scheduled
This isn't really question but if you have anything positive to say about MRA's drop a note.
Well, I am having my follow up test on Wednesday for the 4.0 cm ascending aorta . It is a MRA, as opposed to another CT scan. I am excited and nervous. I wish it would come out better then the CT, you know be that person where the CT over estimated on that one view.
Wish me luck.
Well, I am having my follow up test on Wednesday for the 4.0 cm ascending aorta . It is a MRA, as opposed to another CT scan. I am excited and nervous. I wish it would come out better then the CT, you know be that person where the CT over estimated on that one view.
Wish me luck.
Thank you both for taking the time and posting. skydnsr~thank you for validation about the interpretation. My cardiologist said he prefers the MRI for that reason but would defer whether I need an MRA to the radiologist. I don't feel incredibly confident with the guy so I will be getting the tests and reports and hear his opinion when the results come in but then take all the results to my old cardiologist who doesn't practice in my area anymore, but for him to tell me what he thinks and he if can recommend anyone at the hospital where he used to work at that is 5 minutes away from.
I still don't know why though the echocardigram from 1997 and 2009 are just about identical and a echo done in 2001 had 4.1 for aorta but no one said anything. The 2009 echo was done 36 hours after the CT scan.
Always more questions :)
Thanks again,
I still don't know why though the echocardigram from 1997 and 2009 are just about identical and a echo done in 2001 had 4.1 for aorta but no one said anything. The 2009 echo was done 36 hours after the CT scan.
Always more questions :)
Thanks again,
The best results are from a modern 3T machine. The older machines are 1T (Tesla).
The MRA test with dye contrast is pretty good, no matter what machine is used.
The MRA test with dye contrast is pretty good, no matter what machine is used.
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The MRA may give you the opinion of a second radiologist, in addition to the one who read your CT scan, which is a good thing. Those scans are usually read by whatever random radiologist is available when the pics come through. Even if the aorta is the same size, you would have gotten two opinions. If the two sets of pictures are consistent with each other, and if two radiologists' opinions are consistent with each other, then you probably know what you've got, at that point.
If your cardiologist looks at the pictures and agrees with the radiologists' measurements, then that is that much more confidence added to the assessment. If you yourself look at the pictures, and you can see that the ascending aorta is a pretty much vertical structure, and you can see that the diameter of the aneurysm was measured on a line running at a 90 degree angle to the long axis of the ascending aorta, and if it is clear that the diameter was measured through the widest point of the ascending, then you can obtain even more confidence in the assessment by using your own eyes.
The last opinion you could get would be from a cardiothoracic surgeon. Ascending aneurysms of less than 4.5cm are generally not considered operable, but you could still ask a surgeon his opinion if you wanted to. That would give you an opportunity to see what one more doctor thought about it. It would also give you an opportunity to interview a surgeon to see what you thought about him as a candidate to operate on you, if and when the time comes for an operation.
If two or three doctors' opinions are the same, and if the aneurysm is only 4.0cm, then I don't know that I personally would bother to consult a surgeon, just yet. But for sure, if anybody thought it was 4.5 or bigger, I would.
I've been through this, and that's where I'm coming from.