AS and Aortic Root Disease

Hi all,

?   So, we have been watching the size of my aortic root grow for the past five years.  It has been growing at a steady rate of 2-3 mm per year and is currently at 5 cm wide right at the root where the aortic valves are.  I am in the process of scheduling a second visit with my cardiac surgeon to see if it is time now to do the dreaded surgery to replace the valve and the aortic root.  My mother who passed the genes for both AS and aortic aneurysm to me died when her aorta ruptured so we have been watching it closely.

?There are a number of illnesses out there which directly cause problems with the aorta and the heart such as Marfan's syndrome.  But there is a growing amount of evidence that AS also causes problems with the aorta because of chronic inflammation.  And there is very specific evidence that the problem occurs mostly right at the aortic root which is where the aorta begins at the top of the heart and where the aortic valves exist.  

?My surgeon is a very renowned cardiac surgeon in the Houston, Texas area who trained under the two pioneers of heart transplant in Houston many years ago.  He is considered the pope of aortic root surgery, at least in this part of Texas.  

?The problem is that he does not seem to be aware of this connection between AS and aorta problems.  Doing surgery on an aortic aneurysm is always a waiting game.  They measure the size of the aneurysm and only when the risk of not doing the surgery exceeds the risk of doing the surgery do they go in.  If you have some sort of disease like Marfan syndrome with a known link to aortic problems they do not wait as long.  When the root gets up to even 4.5 cm they go on.  Without any known disease like that they often wait even up until it measures 5.5 cm until they do surgery.

?So, I give you all of that background to say this:  It does not appear that everyone in the cardiac surgery world give the connection between AS, chronic inflammation and aortic problems the weight that it should get.  So I'd like to know if any of you have had similar problems.  How many of you have discovered some sort of aorta disease such as aortitis or aortic aneurysm after being diagnosed with AS.  I'd like to hear your story.  Also, I guess I'd also recommend those of you who have struggled with any of the spondylitis conditions for some time to ask your physician whether you should get screened for this.  An echocardiogram does a good job of showing enlargements of the aorta around the heart.  They can actually measure it during the process.  And since an enlarged aortic root results ultimately in a leaking of the aortic valve they can see whether you are starting to get that problem also.

?My m

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