Posted by stjames on August 27, 2000, at 21:40:48
Y'all were so kind to "kick my butt" so I would stop puting off
this test and so, much late, this is what happened. Short answer is that
I need more tests. I;m conserned about anyurisims, as they run in
the family, and I knew going into this test that a stress echo does
not image the aorta. My primary is more conserned with
my high BP, so he is checking for cause and possible dmg
with the echo. The stress echo almost killed me ! (a joke, but it felt that way)
The cardio man did say that given my family history I was justified in being conserned
and need specific tests to image the aorta. he chose the worst moment to tell me this, 1 min before the end of the tread mill part, just b4 I really thought I might explode.
There were minor changes on EKG and resting echo, due to hypertension, but they
resolved on stress. My heart did excellent under stress
and if I were not so out of shape I would not of felt like I was going to die.I knew from the Marfan list that there were some reading this test could
do that might be indictave of an anyurisim or the beginnings of on. The tech
had some time to kill and showed my some neat doppler images. I asked her to estimate
the aortic root size. She said "I can't do that but I can tell you exactly
what the root size is" Ms tech was very clinical and did not even crack a smile
when she said "this is your heart" and I said "just the one ?" My aortic root
was high normal, like 3.6-3.7 cm and 4.0 cm is cause for consern. In my case this just might
be the hypertension but a enlarging root size also indicates a risk for
anyurisim and/or disection at the aortic root (where the aorta attaches to the heart)So I need to get my primary to order imaging of the aorta and I will push for a
complete study of the entire aorta. From my reading it seems less likely
I have Marfans as the criteria is very specific, now.
There are at least 2 genetic conditions that cause anyurisims.
Wayne State is doing a genetic study on non-marfan families with
anyurisims; I am finishing the paperwork for this.This test was $1,400 so I will have to make a good case for
more studies. Getting the HMO to pay for a complete study of
all of the aorta(s) may be a fight. I would like to know for sure
so I can go back to taking Dexadrine.james
poster:stjames
thread:43866
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000822/msgs/43866.html