My 70 yr old husband recently participated in LifeLine ...

I am assuming the fusiform aortic aneurysm they have discovered is in his abdomen as this is the screening I am familiar with that lifeline does. Alternatively the aneurysm could be in his chest. Abodominal aneurysms of less than 5 cm in diameter are generally followed on a biyearly basis with abdominal ultrasounds. The patient is typically medically managed to decrease risk of increasing the aneurysm size by aggressively controlling blood pressure and cholesterol. I would imagine that your visit to the Houston Vascular surgeon will be to set up a relationship with this physician so that he can monitor this aneurysm and determine when a surgical cure would be necessary.
A fusiform aneurysm is the most common type of abdominal aneurysm and it is a true aneurysm which means there is a weakening in the wall of the vessel. The other type of aneurysm would be a saccular aneurysm and this looks more like berry with a stem connected to the vessel.
I reccomend that you first visit with a local cardiologist or internal medicine doctor and have your husbands blood pressure checked,his cholesterol, etc.. and have the internal medicine doctor or cardiologist make his reccomendation for surgical referral. Again at this point the most beneficial thing for your husband is to have his blood pressure and cholesterol controlled impeccably.

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Sincerely, Jennifer. I hope my answer helped you. If it did please be sure to give me a good rating. If it did not please contact me as I would be happy to help you further.

My husband has been followed on a annual basis by a local cardiologist, because he had a "thickening" of the wall of the heart. He recently had a echo and a stress EKG. No specific cause was determined. He has always had low blood pressure and slightly elevated Cholesterol. He stopped smoking over twenty years ago. Both his Mother and his Father were diagnosed with aneurysms. I know his Father's 2 aneurysms were under his arm and were surgically repaired. His Mother's was aortic and in her chest. It was 5.5 before it was discovered. Due to her age (80) she decided not to have surgery.

If you husband had a "thickening" of the wall of the heart I would be willing to bet he has LVH or left ventricular hypertrophy. This is caused by uncontrolled blood pressure. Although he may have normal blood pressure when checked in the doctor's office this is not necessarily an indication that his blood pressure is well controlled. This is only one measurement of infinite measurements. A 24 hour blood pressure monitor can document his bp over the course of the day.
If he has LVH I would be surprised if he is not on a blood pressure medicine.
In terms of causes for aneurysms, smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and hereditary causes are the main risk factors and so he has all the risk factors. As I stated before the medical management for this aneurysm would be aggressive control of blood pressure and high cholesterol and then just watchful waiting.
Meeting with a surgeon may be premature at this point however once you see your husband's cardiologist and review the findings he may want him to see the surgeon to establish a rapport in case the aneurysm does become large enough to necessitate surgical repair in the future.
Did you have any other questions or concerns?

__________________
Sincerely, Jennifer. I hope my answer helped you. If it did please be sure to give me a good rating. If it did not please contact me as I would be happy to help you further.