What is an aortic aneurysm?: "Silent killer" heart condition you must know about

9,904 Americans died due to aortic aneurysms in 2019, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The disease which has minimal to no symptoms is termed as a "silent killer" by most medical professionals due to the lack of knowledge and timely diagnosis.

Identifying an aortic aneurysm

Aorta is the body's largest artery that carries all the blood from the heart to the chest and abdomen. Various factors such as aging, medical conditions or use of tobacco can weaken the typically strong walls of the aorta, making it unable to handle the force and blood flow and form a bulge inside it.


As the condition progresses, it expands and enlarges to an extent that it ruptures and causes life-threatening internal bleeding.

There are two types of aortic aneurysms- thoracic aneurysms which are in the chest and abdominal aneurysms which occur in the part of the aorta that runs through the belly.

Causes of aortic aneurysms

While the exact causes are unknown, age, gender and a bicuspid aortic valve- a congenital heart defect where the aortic valve has two cusps instead of three are common.

They occur in about 1.4% adults between the ages of 50-84 in the US and are four times more likely in males.

Risk factors of aortic aneurysms

Certain factors that can increase your risk of developing an aortic aneurysm, these include:

history of tobacco use
older age
sex at birth
family history of the disease
high blood pressure
other known aneurysms
inheriting connective-tissue disease

Symptoms of aortic aneurysms

The disease has no symptoms until the aorta is close to rupturing. Then you may feel a deep pain in your lower back or belly, a pulsing sensation in the belly, shortness of breath, low blood pressure, fainting, nausea and clammy skin.

Treatment of aortic aneurysms

Since there are no symptoms, doctors diagnose it with the help of an abdominal duplex ultrasound or computed tomography angiogram (CTA). Its treatment depends on the size of the aneurysm, ranging from surveillance to surgery.