Enlarged aorta/enlarged area present in the below part of aorta indicates the problem of AAA i.e. Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm in patients. Here, aorta is the primary blood vessel associated with the supply of blood in different parts of the body and it is available in thickness, as similar to any garden hose and runs from the heart towards the central region of the abdomen and chest. As aorta is the prime blood supplier in humans, a ruptured form of abdominal aortic aneurysm may result in life-threatening type of bleeding.
What Can Be Done For An Enlarged Aorta?
Actions to Take for Dealing with Enlarged Aorta:
Identification of Signs and Symptoms
With the consistent enlargement of aorta or abdominal aortic aneurysm, patients may often notice the following major symptoms-
- Pulsating feeling across the navel
- Deep and constant pain in the abdomen or nearby its side
- Severe back pain.
Appointment with the Doctor
If you deal with any or all of the mentioned signs and symptoms, including the severe back or abdominal pain, you should step ahead to get emergency help from your doctor.
Diagnose of Enlarged Aorta
To diagnose the condition of enlarged aorta or abdominal aortic aneurysm, doctors review the family history and medical condition of patients. They even conduct the necessary physical examination and in case of suspecting the aneurysm problem, doctors recommend for specialized tests to confirm about it, which include the following-
Abdominal Ultrasound: Abdominal ultrasound for enlarged aorta is a painless examination, where a patient has to lie on his/her back on the diagnose table and doctor applies a warm gel of small amount in the abdomen. This get helps in eliminating the formation of air pockets formed in between the patient’s body and a transducer.
Here, transducer implies an instrument used by technicians to view the aorta of patients. Technician will press the transducer in opposition to the skin present on the abdomen by moving it in between different places. Transducer thus sends images to the connected computer screen and thereby, helps technicians to monitor and check any potential aneurysm.
CT i.e. Computerized Tomography Scan: CT i.e. Computerized Tomography Scan is another type of painless test for enlarged aorta, which gives clear images of one’s aorta and it is able to detect both the shape and the size of aneurysm. While performing any CT scan, patients have to lie on diagnose table within a doughnut-shape machine. This machine thus generates X-rays for producing cross-sectional images of the patient’s body. Doctors may even inject a dye in the blood vessels to increase the visibility of arteries on CT angiography or CT pictures.
MRI i.e. Magnetic Resonance Imaging: MRI i.e. Magnetic Resonance Imaging for enlarged aorta is also a form of painless imaging test used primarily to diagnose aortic aneurysm and to determine its location and size. Here, patients have to lie over a movable table, which slides within a tunnel. MRI utilizes radio wave energy pulses and magnetic field to create pictures of the patients’ body. Furthermore, in some cases, doctors inject a dye within the blood vessels to allow images as more visible via magnetic resonance angiography.
Treatment
In case of enlarged aorta formed because of abdominal aortic aneurysm, doctors recommend for surgery. Surgery in this case may be of two different types i.e. endovascular surgery or open abdominal surgery. Especially, surgery becomes essential if the aneurysm is of 5cm to 5.5 cm or more than that. Even in few cases, doctors suggest for surgery if the growth of aneurysm takes place at a relatively fast rate. Other than this, surgery becomes the perfect option when patients often experience symptoms related to stomach pain or deal with painful, tender or leaking aneurysm.
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