Incidence of abdominal aortic aneurysm casually detected by ultrasonography in elderly patients

Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases are the most common pathologies in the elderly. The aim of our study was to assess the incidence of asymptomatic abdominal aortic aneurysms in the elderly casually detected during ultrasonographic examination. We performed a blind prospective study on 493 outpatients between 65 and 92 years who had been referred for abdominal ultrasonography for other symptoms. Blood pressure, serum creatinine and creatinine clearance, fasting glucose; -carotid intima-media thickness, and standard echo color Doppler of the abdominal aorta were performed. Ultrasonography detected 25 patients with an asymptomatic aorta aneurysm. Moreover, our investigation revealed a significant correlation between hypertension, atherosclerosis, and diabetes with abdominal aortic aneurysm. Ultrasonography is a widely used, low-cost, noninvasive, diagnostic method without negative side effects that can be used to detect an aortic aneurysm in the asymptomatic stage in all elderly subjects during diagnostic investigation for other diseases or symptoms.