My young son has an enlarged aorta

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Q:

Just found out my 14 year old son has enlarged aorta while looking for something totally unrelated. His was 2.6 standard deviations above norm, is this the 1.5 times the size you mentioned to another person as being the point of increased chance for rupture? He was advised to not play football or weight lift….and the rest of the family will be getting echos since is genetic often?

A:

Your son probably has a condition called Marfan Syndrome. If so, it is likely inherited. He needs to be evaluated at a hospital with experience with this disease. I recommend you hold off on athletic endeavors till he has been screened. Meanwhile, he probably should be treated with Beta-blockers, which has been shown to slow the enlargement down.
I have written about this before as part of information about sudden death in young athletes (one happened just this weekend!):
http://www.cardiac-risk-assessment.com/heart-information/heart-arrhythmia/sudden
http://www.cardiac-risk-assessment.com/heart-information/heart-arrhythmia/sudden
Medical treatment with Beta blockers:
http://www.cardiac-risk-assessment.com/heart-disease-treatment/heart-disease-med
Hope this helps,
Dr T
http://www.cardiac-risk-assessment.com/

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