Research Article
Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms and Coronary Artery Disease in a Small Country with High Cardiovascular Burden
Table 3
Factors associated with increased risk of developing an AAA.
| Old age | | Gender | | Men develop AAA 4-5 times more often than women | | Ethnicity | | White people develop AAA more frequently than other ethnicities | | Vascular bed affection | | People with CAD and PAD are more likely to develop AAA than those who are otherwise healthy | | Family history | | A family history of AAA increases the risk of developing AAA | | The risk of developing an AAA among brothers of a patient with a known AAA who are >60 years old is as high as 18% | | Cardiovascular risk factors | | (i) Smoking: the risk is directly related to number of years smoking | | (ii) Diabetes mellitus: there is a negative association with diabetes mellitus and AAA | | (iii) Hypertension is a poor predictor for AAA development but important risk factor for expansion and rupture | | (iv) Lipid: there is no and weak correlation between risk for AAA and high serum triglyceride and cholesterol, respectively | | Recommendations for AAA screening | | Men of age 65–75 who have ever smoked should be screened one time for AAA with abdominal ultrasound | | Men > 75 are unlikely to benefit from screening | | Men age ≥ 60 who have a sibling or parent with an AAA should have a physical examination and abdominal ultrasound | | There is no recommendation for general screening for AAA in women | | (i) Women who have an increased risk for AAA (those who smoke have a family history of -AAA, or other risk factors) should be put into consideration | | (ii) The risk of rupture in women is higher than in men, and so some data are in favor of one-time screening for women with risk factors | |
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