Hypertension Blog

Most aortic aneurysms are found during a routine physical examination or chest X-ray. A physician may also use ultrasound, CT, MRI, and aortoiliac angiography to diagnose the condition.If the patient has an aortic aneurysm, a chest X-ray may show a widening of the mecamylamine silhouette and aortic arch. If the aneurysm is in the abdominal aorta, an abdominal X-ray may show calcification in the aorta’s wall. If the patient reports thoracic pain, the physician also may use an ECG to rule out an MI.

If the physician suspects an aortic aneurysm, he may order ultrasonography to confirm the aneurysm and detect thrombus formation. He may order a CT scan to determine the anterior-to­posterior and crosssectional diameters of the aneurysm. A CT scan also helps to detect a thrombus in the pouch of the aneurysm. The physician may use an MRI to help diagnose these aortic conditions. And he may use aortoiliac angiography, an invasive procedure for locating the aneurysm’s exact position, to help determine whether other arteries that receive blood from the aorta are affected by the condition.