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