I would like to thank here a fellow vascular surgeon Kallinis Aristeidis, MD for his time to write about aortic aneurysms and post about this hot medical theme in my blog.
We will follow him in a series of posts about aortic aneurysms starting today with the definition and epidemiology of it.
Abdominal aortic aneurysms are responsible for a substancial public health in Western countries. Despite the public health importance there are still a lot to be elucidated about their etiology.
Mortality and morbidity related to abdominal aneurysm has increased substantially in recent years, so has the diagnosis using the new technology such as echographic studies, Computed Tomography or Magnetic Resonance Angiograpgy.
Aneurysms generally are responsible for considerable hospital and security care costs.
From the aspect of definition an aneurysm is a localized dilatation of an artery more than 50% of the normal size of it. The normal size of the aorta differ by size, age and sex. The true aneurysms involve all the three layers of the arterial wall. In contrast, false aneurysms are created due to a temporary disruption of the outer arterial wall.
A dissecting aneurysm is a particular form of false aneurysm that most often results from the degeneration of the arterial media. Most of the aneurysms occur in the infrarenal aorta.
Men are affected more commonly than women. The reasons for this are not clear. Hormonal factors, genetic susceptibility, increased exposure to important risk factors or a combination of the three may play a role among men. The abdominal aneuryzems shows a slow prevalence but after the age of 60 years have a sharp rise in prevalence.
Other risk factors are cigarette smoking, increased blood pressure, family history, serum lipids and lipoproteins, diabetes mellitus.
Screening studies shown a low prevalence of diabetes among persons with abdominal aneurysms.
Coming Soon: Why Diabetes seems to protect from aortic aneurysm.
Should I check myself for aortic aneurysm, at what age and with which exam method
Is there a way to search for my genetic disposition for aortic aneurysm?
When an aortic aneurysm has to be surgically treated and how….
How nanotechnology may help in the future with aortic aneurysms
and many many more……
