Aortic Diameter Is Associated with Risks for Mortality and Hospitalization

The U.K.'s National Health Service recommends screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) in all men at age 65. Patients with AAA (aortic diameter, ≥30 mm) are more likely to die of other vascular diseases than are patients without AAA. To determine whether aortic diameters just below this AAA threshold (i.e., enlarged or “ectatic”) also are associated with morbidity or early all-cause mortality, U.K. investigators conducted a prospective cohort study that involved 8000 older men (age range, 65–74) who were screened for AAA.

Overall, 5% of men had aortic diameters ≥30 mm (AAA), 8% had aortic diameters of 25 to 29 mm, and 87% had aortic diameters ≤24 mm. After a median follow-up of 7.4 years, 18% of the men in the ≥30-mm group, 10% in the 2…