Abdominal Aortic Aneurism

[medusa]

Giving 5,000,000 people a CTI scan every six months would handily wipe out most of the NHS budget and leave untold millions dying of something else.

 

And bearing in mind that a CT scan can contain anything up to 1000 times the radiation of a standard x-ray, a CT scan every 6 months without there being a genuine need for one could result in lots of people developing cancers and radiation problems in their future too, even if the CT scans showed that they were fine.

[HeadingNorth]

And bearing in mind that a CT scan can contain anything up to 1000 times the radiation of a standard x-ray, a CT scan every 6 months without there being a genuine need for one could result in lots of people developing cancers and radiation problems in their future too, even if the CT scans showed that they were fine.

 

I had not thought of that. That's an even better reason for not doing it than the cost/benefit analysis, because even if CT scans cost nothing this would still apply. You'd end up killing more people of cancer, than you saved from aortic aneurysms.

[andrejuan]

To expand on that somewhat, a CTI scan can only show what, if any, aneurysms you currently have right now. They might be very small or non-existent, and such a scan would not help to foretell if you are going to develop any in future. Giving you a fresh CTI scan every six months to ensure that the problem is located before it kills you, probably is not feasible when you consider how many people are considered to be at risk of developing the condition. Giving 5,000,000 people a CTI scan every six months would handily wipe out most of the NHS budget and leave untold millions dying of something else.

 

Yeah, that's what I meant. But who decides what is worth intervention? Who decides which people should be saved from death, and why their condition is more worthy than another?

[HeadingNorth]

Yeah, that's what I meant. But who decides what is worth intervention? Who decides which people should be saved from death, and why their condition is more worthy than another?

 

In theory, all conditions are equally worthy. In practice, the NHS has a finite budget, and can only ever have a finite budget, so nasty decisions do have to be made.

 

However, I refer you to Medusa's post above detailing another, better, reason why you can't be given repeated CT scans to detect any oncoming aneurysms before they present a problem. You'd probably develop cancer from all the scans.

 

There's little risk of cancer from giving you one scan, right now, to see if you have any; but, as I say, that would not help to show whether you're going to develop them in future. It would only prove that you do not have one yet. The option which is most likely to help keep you alive is to keep the CT scan in reserve for such time as you show symptoms that might be attributable to an aortic aneurysm. Sadly, there are no guarantees; "most likely not to kill you" is the best option on the table.

[poppypoppy]

Hi..

 

Well father in law had the operation yesterday and so far hes doing ok. We couldnt see him last night as he didnt get out of surgery while after 9pm but they have said that everything went as planned. This morning we have rang the hospital and they have said he is waking up and is as well as can be expected. They have said because he was so fit for his age, it has given him a fighting chance. So fingers crossed he will now be on the slow road to recovery. So its a big relief.

[anywebsite]

Great news. My grandfather died from an aortic aneurysm.

[medusa]

Great news poppypoppy! With things like this the surgery itself is one of the big risks and once he's over the immediate dangers then everyone can start looking towards the future a bit more

[HeadingNorth]

Agree with Medusa. The biggest danger of all was that he would die on the operating table, and he has not; there's every reason to think he will now make a full recovery.

[welland]

Hi..

 

Well father in law had the operation yesterday and so far hes doing ok. We couldnt see him last night as he didnt get out of surgery while after 9pm but they have said that everything went as planned. This morning we have rang the hospital and they have said he is waking up and is as well as can be expected. They have said because he was so fit for his age, it has given him a fighting chance. So fingers crossed he will now be on the slow road to recovery. So its a big relief.

 

My mum had one operated on 7 years ago. It took quite a while to recover but she is fine now. I am sure he will recover too x

[andrejuan]

Re Posts 10 11 12 14.

 

Blimey !!!! who mentioned having scans every few months??? not me. Or giving scans to millions of people for the sake of it!!! Not me. Where does this over-exitement come from.

I was simply saying that now I have got to the same age where the condition killed my family members, my doctor didn't think it worth a look inside me ?

It doesn't bother me either way, I kinda think when your time is up, your time is up.

I hope everything goes well for the relative of the original poster, after all that's what this thread is about. I would be interested to find out how it was diagnosed.