ISSN:
1432-1440
Keywords:
The natural course of abdominal aortic aneurysms
;
Ultrasonic follow-up studies of asymptomatic, small abdominal aortic aneurysms
;
Prognosis of aortic aneurysms
;
Risk of rupture
;
Growth rate of abdominal aneurysms
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
Summary Forty-two patients with an abdominal aortic aneurysm that had not been treated surgically were repeatedly examined by ultrasonography. The average observation time of all patients was 3.1 years. The total observation period including follow-up times of all patients adds up to 129 “patient years”. Within this time none of the 35 asymptomatic abdominal aneurysms with transversal diameters of maximally 5 cm ruptured. Three patients of seven with larger and symptomatic aneurysms died in consequence of a rupture. Small asymptomatic abdominal aortic aneurysms seem to have a better prognosis than previously supposed. The question whether all abdominal aneurysms should be operated on needs reconsideration, especially in the elderly.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF01782469
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