Aneurysms

Twin Sisters Suffered the Same Life-Threatening Condition: How One Life Was Saved
Nathalia Walker and her twin sister both suffered with a condition renowned as a silent and deadly killer: an aneurysm, which is known to kill over 10,000 people a year in England alone.
Life can be threatened when the aorta, the largest blood vessel in the body, balloons, resulting in a weakening of the vessel walls, which are liable to burst if the aneurysm gets too big. Often fatal, aneurysms most frequently occur around the abdomen, but can also occur in the chest area (thoracic aneurysms). Although men are more prone to abdominal aneurysms, more women can fall prey to devastating thoracic aneurysms.
The Patient
Nathalia Walker, at the age of 78, started getting severe backache and became prone to fainting. Remembering that her twin sister had experienced similar symptoms and then died was a cause for concern for Nathalia. However, as with many people, Nathalia delayed seeking expert advice.
"I started getting really bad backache and I even fainted a couple of times about four years ago," says Nathalia. "I remembered that my twin sister, who lived in Holland, had also had similar problems seven years before that, so I was a little bit apprehensive. She had an aneurysm, but unfortunately it wasn't fixed in time and she died from a rupture. This worried me, but I brushed it off until January earlier this year when I went to see a specialist privately.
"The specialist told me that I had an aneurysm that was 8 cm in size, which is apparently very large and dangerous. I was referred to Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust on 9th June this year, where Mr Tom Carrell looked after me. Everyone was very worried about me as the aneurysm was so big, and they told me that once an aneurysm gets bigger than 5.5 cm it often bursts