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Aortic Aneurysm - Medical Negligence Claim

The aorta is the largest artery in the body. It extends from the top of the heart and curves downward to travel through the thorax and abdomen until it splits into the iliac arteries in the pelvis. The aorta is a thick walled artery that can take a great deal of pressure. Unfortunately, in some cases, it cannot take prolonged high blood pressure and an aneurysm occurs.

A thoracic aortic aneurysm occurs in the thorax. It can occur in the ascending or descending portion of the aorta. Most thoracic aortic aneurysms do not actually rupture but grow slowly over time. Fast growing aneurysms can occur, however, and these do rupture and often lead to death unless immediate emergency surgery is done. Symptoms of a thoracic aortic aneurysm include tenderness to the abdomen or chest and pain in the back.

The cause of a given thoracic aortic aneurysm is not always clear. A person can have Marfan syndrome, which is a connective tissue disease that causes weak arterial walls. Such people tend to be very tall and have long arms and a deformed breast bone. There are other connective tissue diseases that cause a weakening of the aortic wall, including Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. If you have aortic valve problems, you can get a weakening of the aorta as well. A two-valved aortic valve can cause this problem. If you have had an injury to your aorta in a car accident or other high velocity accident, you can get a thoracic aortic aneurysm.

The aortic aneurysm can be diagnosed using a chest x-ray that can see the widening of the aorta. An echocardiogram of the heart and chest area can reveal a widened aorta. A transesophageal ultrasound is an ultrasound that is done while the sensor is in the esophagus. It takes better pictures of the heart and the aorta and can identify an aortic aneurysm. A CT scan of the chest will show the size of the aorta. MRI scans will show the same thing.

The treatment of a thoracic aortic aneurysm is to do delicate surgery to close the aneurysm and to normalize the size of the aorta. This prevents aortic rupture and takes care of the problem. Blood pressure medications including beta blockers and angiotensin II receptor inhibitors are used to control the blood pressure and statins are used to control the blood cholesterol level.

An abdominal aortic aneurysm is located in the lower thorax or abdomen of the body. It is commonly seen where the renal arteries go off the side of the aorta. An aneurysm can be due to a connective tissue disease such as Marfan syndrome or Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. It can be due to chronic high blood pressure. The aorta can become dilated in the development of an aneurysm or can dissect. Aortic dissection is when the aortic lining splits open and sends blood up the space between the inner and outer walls of the aorta. A dissection can be painful and can just be minor. Alternatively, a dissection can rupture, causing massive bleeding and death.

An abdominal aortic aneurysm is easily picked up by an ultrasound of the abdomen but some doctors prefer to do a CT scan or MRI scan to make sure that the size of the aortic aneurysm is carefully documented. Usually, abdominal aortic aneurysms are followed every six months to every year to see how big the aortic aneurysm is getting. If it exceeds a certain size, doctors are compelled to do surgery in order to cut out the enlarged part of the aneurysm and put together a much smaller diameter blood vessel.