Guest guest Posted August 25, 2006 Report Share Posted August 25, 2006 Went for my annual physical last week. Received the results in the mail. The chest x-ray report states, in part, "This patient has had corrective surgery for her scoliotic curvature. Distraction and contraction rods are in place...There is torsion of the aorta, probably because it is partially following the spine." Yikes! I now have an appointment set up with a cardiologist for next Friday. Has anyone else here ever had this problem, or heard of it? I have had a little difficult time breathing, and I get exhausted a little easier than I think I should, but I was just contributing these things to the heat, etc. Any comments or advice would be greatly appreciated! ~Carolyn (age 45) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 27, 2006 Report Share Posted August 27, 2006 Sorry to hear that you received this scary news. It's possible that the heart may have been damaged by the curvature before your surgery and it was not evident at that time. As we get older, our lifestyle habits may have made this damage more evident. Once I discovered that the severity of a curve may damage internal organs, like the heart and lungs, I had mine checked out to get a baseline for future monitoring. I do have restricted lung capacity (60% working and 75% max.), but thankfully my heart was OK. Nothing was ever mentioned when I was treated before the original surgery. Just take this appointment as a precautionary measure, that is used as a baseline for future monitoring. If corrective measures are needed now, then at least it's early enough in your life to give you a chance at a better quality of life in the future. Good luck with your appointment. Llweyn From: [mailto: ] On Behalf Of StillGen@...Sent: August 25, 2006 9:39 PM Subject: Scary News/Aortic Torsion Went for my annual physical last week. Received the results in the mail. The chest x-ray report states, in part, "This patient has had corrective surgery for her scoliotic curvature. Distraction and contraction rods are in place...There is torsion of the aorta, probably because it is partially following the spine." Yikes! I now have an appointment set up with a cardiologist for next Friday. Has anyone else here ever had this problem, or heard of it? I have had a little difficult time breathing, and I get exhausted a little easier than I think I should, but I was just contributing these things to the heat, etc. Any comments or advice would be greatly appreciated! ~Carolyn (age 45) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 27, 2006 Report Share Posted August 27, 2006 Llweyn, Thanks so much for your kind response. I realized after I posted that I probably should explain what "torsion of the aorta" actually means in plain English, since I had to look it up before I understood what it means. Basically it is a kink in the main artery coming out of the heart...the one that supplies blood to the whole body. Thanks again, Carolyn In a message dated 8/27/06 2:28:54 P.M. Central Daylight Time, mad.monk@... writes: Sorry to hear that you received this scary news. It's possible that the heart may have been damaged by the curvature before your surgery and it was not evident at that time. As we get older, our lifestyle habits may have made this damage more evident. Once I discovered that the severity of a curve may damage internal organs, like the heart and lungs, I had mine checked out to get a baseline for future monitoring. I do have restricted lung capacity (60% working and 75% max.), but thankfully my heart was OK. Nothing was ever mentioned when I was treated before the original surgery. Just take this appointment as a precautionary measure, that is used as a baseline for future monitoring. If corrective measures are needed now, then at least it's early enough in your life to give you a chance at a better quality of life in the future. Good luck with your appointment. Llweyn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 28, 2006 Report Share Posted August 28, 2006 in this condition, can i get this after a valve replacement? Ellen --- StillGen@... wrote: > > Llweyn, > > Thanks so much for your kind response. I realized > after I posted that I > probably should explain what " torsion of the aorta " > actually means in plain > English, since I had to look it up before I > understood what it means. Basically it > is a kink in the main artery coming out of the > heart...the one that supplies > blood to the whole body. > > Thanks again, > Carolyn > > In a message dated 8/27/06 2:28:54 P.M. Central > Daylight Time, > mad.monk@... writes: > > > > > Sorry to hear that you received this scary news. > It's possible that the > heart may have been damaged by the curvature before > your surgery and it was not > evident at that time. As we get older, our lifestyle > habits may have made this > damage more evident. Once I discovered that the > severity of a curve may > damage internal organs, like the heart and lungs, I > had mine checked out to get a > baseline for future monitoring. I do have restricted > lung capacity (60% > working and 75% max.), but thankfully my heart was > OK. Nothing was ever mentioned > when I was treated before the original surgery. > Just take this appointment as a precautionary > measure, that is used as a > baseline for future monitoring. If corrective > measures are needed now, then at > least it's early enough in your life to give you a > chance at a better quality > of life in the future. Good luck with your > appointment. > > Llweyn > > > > > > > > __________________________________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 28, 2006 Report Share Posted August 28, 2006 Ellen, Maybe someone else here can answer your question about a valve replacement...I have no idea. From what I read, this kinked aorta is something that usually a person is born with. I have had lots of chest, scoliosis x-rays, etc, and no one has ever mentioned this to me before. Mine is a complicated situation (as all of ours are). I have reason to believe that the kink in my aorta may have possibly been put there by a cardiologist last year who did a heart catheterization on me (that's where they stick a tube in your thigh and go up into your heart to look at it). This cardiologist is currently being fired from the cardiologist group he was in, for mysterious reasons, from what I understand. I am trying to stay on top of all of this, but life sure does get complicated! ~Carolyn In a message dated 8/28/06 8:35:19 A.M. Central Daylight Time, ellen_kear@... writes: in this condition, can i get this after a valvereplacement?Ellen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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