AboutDavid Richardson Expertise Adult heart function and disease. Not very good about children lesss than 12. Hypertension is o.k. Heart rhythm a special interest.
Experience Certified in cardiology by the American Board of Internal Medicine. Was chairman of division of cardiology at the Medical College of Virginia. Am now mostly retired.
Organizations Fellow of American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology and member of American Physiological Society..
Publications Circulation, American Heart Journal, Hypertension.
Education/Credentials M.D. from Harvard Medical School. Residency training at Yale Uhniversity School of Medicine and Medical College of Virginia.
Awards and Honors Gold Heartt Award from American Heart Association in 1995.
Question Dear colleague, I'm also an expert here on AllExperts since around 10 years. My fields are in my specialty (medical oncology & radiation therapy) so they are general cancer/oncology, brain tumors, breast cancer and colon cancer. I also answer questions within the fields of my hobbies of general history and military history. However I have not had anything to do with cardiology since I studied medicine at the Royal Karolinska Institute School of Medicine, graduating in 1971. An old Italian born ex-girlfriend of mine now living in the south of Sweden (Båstad) far from me (I live in Stockholm) born in December 1947 has however phoned me. She has problems with a low blood pressure and cardiac investigations including ECG, echocardiogram, chest x-rays and CT scans have found an aorta dilation of 3.5 cm. Is there any case for concern and should any treatment be considered?
Best regards & thanks! Claes-Gustaf Nordquist, MD
Answer Dear Dr. Nordquist,
Normal aortic diameter is up to 3.7 cm. With her low blood pressure, her aorta is unlikely to dilate further. She should get another echo in a year to be sure it has not dilated further. No treatment is needed except in the unlikely case that she has syphilis.
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