Enlarged ascending thoracic aorta causes?

[BillyJ03z]

So I have been having a lot of acid reflux the past 1 1/2 years, no blood pressure issues and erratic lipid panels (expected when on TRT) but the last year lipid panel dialed in with Natural Thyroid supplementation-Armour... just had CT Scan for Heart Calcium which came back "0" normal.... but they found that my Ascending thoracic aorta is enlarged (3.9cm)..... going for Echocardiogram in a couple weeks.... Is there any link of TRT (been on 10 plus years) to enlarged Aorta and/or Aorta aneurysm ?

 

[Vince]

So I have been having a lot of acid reflux the past 1 1/2 years, no blood pressure issues and erratic lipid panels (expected when on TRT) but the last year lipid panel dialed in with Natural Thyroid supplementation-Armour... just had CT Scan for Heart Calcium which came back "0" normal.... but they found that my Ascending thoracic aorta is enlarged (3.9cm)..... going for Echocardiogram in a couple weeks.... Is there any link of TRT (been on 10 plus years) to enlarged Aorta and/or Aorta aneurysm ?

I know two men that had enlarged Aorta aneurysm. One actually started to burst, somehow he made it to emergency in time. They can sleeve the aorta artery. There's an interesting story on the sleeve, it was designed by an architect. He invented it to save his life and it worked.

 

[Cooper]

So I have been having a lot of acid reflux the past 1 1/2 years, no blood pressure issues and erratic lipid panels (expected when on TRT) but the last year lipid panel dialed in with Natural Thyroid supplementation-Armour... just had CT Scan for Heart Calcium which came back "0" normal.... but they found that my Ascending thoracic aorta is enlarged (3.9cm)..... going for Echocardiogram in a couple weeks.... Is there any link of TRT (been on 10 plus years) to enlarged Aorta and/or Aorta aneurysm ?

I know this is extremely old but I have the same issue and having been on trt for about 12 years as well. Did you continue using trt?

 

[BillyJ03z]

I know this is extremely old but I have the same issue and having been on trt for about 12 years as well. Did you continue using trt?

Funny that you resurrected this question, because I just had testing done again and found out some things... about 4 months ago I had another Echocardiogram done and the results said that my ascending aorta increased from 3.9cm (originally tested in 2021) to 4.3cm, so about 2 months ago I went to cardiologist/heart specialist for followup. The heart specialist studied my results and came back to the conclusion that I have a congenital heart defect (bicuspid aortic valve) which is contributing to the ascending aortic aneurysm. Heart specialist basically said that I need to prepare for open heart surgery due to the rapid expansion of the ascending aortic valve. So to get a clearer picture the Heart specialist ordered me to get a Chest CT scan w/ contrast which would be more accurate than echo. I had CT scan about a month ago and my results actually showed that Ascending Aorta didn't increase (measured approximately the same/comparable to original 3.9. So the Heart Specialist said everything is appearing stable right now and just need to monitor as we move forward. The fact that I do have a bicuspid aortic valve (congenital heart defect) it is almost inevitable that I will have to have heart surgery at some point in the future. In my case, the heart specialist didn't tell me I need to stop TRT, nor did he indicate that TRT contributed to anything negative. Hope this helps...

 

[USMC]

Funny that you resurrected this question, because I just had testing done again and found out some things... about 4 months ago I had another Echocardiogram done and the results said that my ascending aorta increased from 3.9cm (originally tested in 2021) to 4.3cm, so about 2 months ago I went to cardiologist/heart specialist for followup. The heart specialist studied my results and came back to the conclusion that I have a congenital heart defect (bicuspid aortic valve) which is contributing to the ascending aortic aneurysm. Heart specialist basically said that I need to prepare for open heart surgery due to the rapid expansion of the ascending aortic valve. So to get a clearer picture the Heart specialist ordered me to get a Chest CT scan w/ contrast which would be more accurate than echo. I had CT scan about a month ago and my results actually showed that Ascending Aorta didn't increase (measured approximately the same/comparable to original 3.9. So the Heart Specialist said everything is appearing stable right now and just need to monitor as we move forward. The fact that I do have a bicuspid aortic valve (congenital heart defect) it is almost inevitable that I will have to have heart surgery at some point in the future. In my case, the heart specialist didn't tell me I need to stop TRT, nor did he indicate that TRT contributed to anything negative. Hope this helps...

Yah, a bicuspid aortic valve will typically need to be dealt with in the 4th decade. I was 42 when they replaced mine as it caused my ascending aorta to balloon to nearly 5cm. No symptoms to speak of, just a risk of a burst. Your mileage may vary but it's good they are watching it. I had echos starting from every two years, then every 1 year, then 6 months until the main event. Closer to my surgery, I had a near syncope event during yard work due to my aorta opening narrowing to the diameter of a pencil.. it was time for surgery...

 

[Vince]

Funny that you resurrected this question, because I just had testing done again and found out some things... about 4 months ago I had another Echocardiogram done and the results said that my ascending aorta increased from 3.9cm (originally tested in 2021) to 4.3cm, so about 2 months ago I went to cardiologist/heart specialist for followup. The heart specialist studied my results and came back to the conclusion that I have a congenital heart defect (bicuspid aortic valve) which is contributing to the ascending aortic aneurysm. Heart specialist basically said that I need to prepare for open heart surgery due to the rapid expansion of the ascending aortic valve. So to get a clearer picture the Heart specialist ordered me to get a Chest CT scan w/ contrast which would be more accurate than echo. I had CT scan about a month ago and my results actually showed that Ascending Aorta didn't increase (measured approximately the same/comparable to original 3.9. So the Heart Specialist said everything is appearing stable right now and just need to monitor as we move forward. The fact that I do have a bicuspid aortic valve (congenital heart defect) it is almost inevitable that I will have to have heart surgery at some point in the future. In my case, the heart specialist didn't tell me I need to stop TRT, nor did he indicate that TRT contributed to anything negative. Hope this helps...

Billy, here's a great website that will help you with your heart valve. It's better to get it repaired than replaced. If repair is possible in your case.

About Adam Pick, Patient Advocate, Author & Website Founder

Learn about Adam Pick, heart valve surgery patient, advocated, and author of The Patient's Guide To Heart Valve Surgery.

www.heart-valve-surgery.com

 

[Vince]

Sorry, I just realized you have a two leaf valve, bicuspid aortic valve. Your valve cannot be repaired. Still check out the website. It will help you find the best hospital, surgeon and valve.

 

[Cooper]

Funny that you resurrected this question, because I just had testing done again and found out some things... about 4 months ago I had another Echocardiogram done and the results said that my ascending aorta increased from 3.9cm (originally tested in 2021) to 4.3cm, so about 2 months ago I went to cardiologist/heart specialist for followup. The heart specialist studied my results and came back to the conclusion that I have a congenital heart defect (bicuspid aortic valve) which is contributing to the ascending aortic aneurysm. Heart specialist basically said that I need to prepare for open heart surgery due to the rapid expansion of the ascending aortic valve. So to get a clearer picture the Heart specialist ordered me to get a Chest CT scan w/ contrast which would be more accurate than echo. I had CT scan about a month ago and my results actually showed that Ascending Aorta didn't increase (measured approximately the same/comparable to original 3.9. So the Heart Specialist said everything is appearing stable right now and just need to monitor as we move forward. The fact that I do have a bicuspid aortic valve (congenital heart defect) it is almost inevitable that I will have to have heart surgery at some point in the future. In my case, the heart specialist didn't tell me I need to stop TRT, nor did he indicate that TRT contributed to anything negative. Hope this helps...

Thanks for the quick reply. Opinions, as always it seems, tend to be mixed as to if ascending aorta issue and TRT are related.