Aortic Anuryism in men

My FIL died of an aneurism when he was 71 he had already had the operation a year before and his GP thought it unlikely he had another.They operated a second time by some "new" method but he sadly died two weeks later .My OH had his scan last year when he was 65 ,I was very relieved there was nothing to see.FIL was a heavy smoker for over 50 years and they thought that could have been a factor in the condition,OH has never smoked

Mr B had a growing aneurysm for years. He described it as ‘a ticking time bomb’. It did indeed grow large enough for surgery and if memory serves me right, it was the position of it which necessitated open surgery. The waiting for news of the outcome of surgery was awful but he recovered well and had since played golf and cycled again.
That was at least 5 years ago. Sadly very recently diagnosed with heart failure caused by a clot. It’s hard to see how frail he has become and not to know how much recovery we can expect.

Himself had a routine scan 2 years ago. Normal.
Was told ‘if you don’t have the start of one now at your age (he was 67y at the time) you won’t be bothered by one as they are very slow growing’.

Andomen??? I meant abdomen! (Predictive text issue!)

Thanks to all who’ve helped me gain insight into our worry. We know the aneurysm has grown but is still “small” according to the andomen scan. An MRI is ordered to look at the artery in deeper detail. Fingers crossed.
If small enough, keyhole surgery is on the cards. If too big it’s going to be open surgery & estimates of two weeks in hospital. He was advised all of this by the surgeon last week.

My lovely next door neighbour walked out of the bathroom called out to her husband and died before she hit the floor.
She had suffered badly from Asthma as a child, had never smoked and was a very occasional drinker, she was in her 80s though.
But in our GP practice Women don’t get called in for a scan.

A friend had an aneurism that was very large and on the point of bursting, they operated and he is still going after 8 yrs. He wasnt a “large “ man either, probably below average.

annodomini scanning is routinely done on men when they reach 65 that’s how my DHs was found. He would never of responded when he was called if it hadn’t been for my insistence apparently a lot of men don’t bother but as others have said it’s catastrophic and deadly if it ruptures outside of hospital. We were told it was only because his rupture was into his back which gave them time to save him. You are right it is an inherited condition too.

-- there is aortic aneurisms can--.
forgive the lapse in syntax, but you know what I meant!

My dad also died of an undiagnosed aortic aneurism, so suddenly that we never had the chance to say goodbye. He was 75 and had been suffering from Polymialgia Rheumatica for which he was being successfully treated with prednisolone. Coincidentally, I have also had PMR and had the same treatment. It's not known if the two conditions are connected, but it is known that there is aortic aneurisms can be hereditary. As my sister was diagnosed with this, she urged me to have a scan which my GP was happy to sanction. Luckily it came up negative, though it did let me know I had gall stones. It would make sense for scanning to be routine, as it's just as easy as a pregnancy scan.

My father died from a ruptured aortic aneurysm in 1987. He was 88 years old and had never had more than a hernia in the past. He was a pipe smoker, teetotal, and very sedentary. There was a plan to repair it but he died within two days of its discovery. Had he been routinely scanned it would have been found before it got to that state. Always take any scan that's offered. It doesn't have to be that serious if detected before it gets to the acute stage.

My father-in-law had a large aortic aneurysm,he was told it would rupture if he didn’t have surgery.He was also told he may not survive the operation.

He got through it and made a full recovery.

Wow, 10cm. I'm glad they found it in time.

My husband went for a CT scan after being diagnosed with bowel cancer. They halted the scan halfway through after discovering a 10cms aortic aneurysm, saying that needed urgent treatment before anything was done about the bowel cancer. He was kept in hospital and operated on, everything went according to plan, but he did end up with a stoma bag. A few weeks later he had another op, successful, for his bowel cancer.

My Dad had an iliac aneurysm picked up by a trial at his surgery, it needed an operation quickly which was successful. This was some 25 years ago, I’m not sure if there is a total arterial scan when they scan the aorta now.

A family member went through this surgery recently. It absolutely will not be keyhole. It is a very major operation that is usually done when the aneurysm reaches 5cm. It will be monitored closely. That said, my family member recovered very well.

Although not as common in women we can and do get aortic aneurysms. My father had an aneurysm, because of this I was able to request a scan. The doctor had to check if I was eligible because I was the first of his female patients to ask for one. All was well. The scan is rather like the scan done when pregnant.

Apparently its unusual in women but can happen, it seems women arent scanned routinely.

Do only men develop aortic aneurysms?

My brother in law had his repaired very successfully before he was treated for cancer, he is now fit and well and back playing golf.

My husband went for a routine scan at 65 and was told he had a large aneurysm 7.5 which needed urgent surgery it was a big shock. Unfortunately it ruptured 6wks later while his surgery was in the planning stage. He was rushed to surgery and they managed to save him with minutes to spare thanks to a journey through London on blues and twos and our wonderful NHS. His scar was a wonder but he had a very good recovery and was home 6 days later. All caused by bad diet and smoking of course it was very scary but with a good outcome in the end.

All men should be called as routine at 65 to have this checked. My DH did and was told instantly its was within normal parameters so don't need anymore checks, brilliant.
My BiL slightly older by 2 years was in the group that didn't get this as routine, he has just had emergency AAA repair found by chance. Was told he was lucky, he's not a big chap but was a smoker.
Make sure the men in your life don't bypass this service when called.

My husband has regular scans as his father and uncles on both sides of the family have had aortic aneurysms.

My FIL had an 8cms aneurysm at the age of 87 and had a successful operation.We went to see him the next day in intensive care and he was sat up in bed waving to us.Home after a week in hospital.His uncles all had successful surgery too.

My relative is slim, non smoker, almost teetotal so no lifestyle issues of note or worry for him.
Thanks to Maybemaw for the insight and positive report. Thanks to others for responding. We’re awaiting MRI date as the aneurysm has grown in last 12 months.

DH ‘s aneurysm was discovered entirely by chance and he had surgery as an emergency as his aneurysm was large and very close to rupturing. It was in addition very close to his heart and had distorted the aortic valve so that had to be replaced as well.
It was a big operation, there’s no denying, but successful.