ONE SCAN TO SAVE YOUR LIFE
- MVI
- Sep 3, 2019
- 2 min read
Updated: Sep 28, 2020
September is Aneurysm Awareness Month! Throughout the month, Milford Vascular Institute will be offering FREE Vascular Screenings for EVERYONE (not just existing patients). One scan could save your life!
What is an aneurysm? An aneurysm is a ticking time bomb inside you. It is a bulge or ballooning in a blood vessel. This ballooning can occur in any blood vessel in your body, but the most deadly and common aneurysms occur in your brain or your abdominal aorta.
Milford Vascular Institute offers in-house testing for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms. Diagnosis of brain aneurysms requires more complicated testing - typically an MRI, MRA, or CTA.
How do you detect an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA)?
Most AAA's are diagnosed by sheer luck. Typically, while tests are being performed for another condition, the technician or doctor just happens to find the bulging vessel. For example, you could be receiving an ultrasound of your kidneys and the technician spots the ballooning in your aorta.
Ultrasound is the quickest and least invasive way to see an image of your abdominal aorta. Aortic ultrasounds are performed in-office everyday at Milford Vascular Institute. If an aneurysm is detected, your doctor will then order a CT scan to confirm the findings.
Why is it so important to take advantage of a FREE Vascular Screening?
While the testing for a AAA is quick, easy, and painless, insurance companies will not pay for the ultrasound if you do not have an order from your primary care doctor. Your primary doctor will only be able to write an order for an aortic ultrasound if you have a significant family history of AAA, you are a smoker, or you have longstanding high blood pressure.
In other words, while anyone could have an aneurysm growing in any blood vessel in their body at any time, only a small population of people will be able to have "preventative" ultrasounds performed.
For the entire month of September, we are opening this opportunity up to EVERY member of the public! Our Vascular Screenings take about an hour to perform. You will have to fast (nothing to eat or drink, excluding water) for 4 hours prior to your exam. During the screening, one of our certified vascular sonographers will scan your Aorta to check for aneurysm and your carotid arteries to check for stenosis. A medical assistant will then perform an ABI to check for claudication in your upper and lower extremities. These tests for peripheral vascular disease can also be used as an indicator for heart disease, the leading cause of death amongst Americans.
Vascular diseases claim the lives of over 17.9 million people every year, worldwide. Call us today to schedule your FREE Vascular Screening to make sure you don't have one of these silent killers living inside you.
WATCH THIS VIDEO TO LEARN MORE ABOUT AAA FROM DR. DAVID ESPOSITO:
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