Aortic Aneurysm

AORTIC ANEURYSM

Etiology:
Atherosclerosis (most are abdominal and more than 90% originate below the renal arteries

Risk Factors:

• Hypertension
• High cholesterol
• Other vascular disease
• Family history
• Smoking
• Age
• Gender (males > females)

Signs and Symptoms:

• Usually asymptomatic
• Pulsatile abdominal mass or abdominal bruits
• Ruptured aneurysm
• Hypotension
• Severe and tearing abdominal pain radiating to the back

Treatments:

• If asymptomatic, monitoring is appropiate for lesions less than 5 cm
• Surgical repair if lesion is more than 5.5 cm on abdominal or more than 6 cm on thoracic or if enlarges rapidly
• Emergency surgery for symptomatic or ruptured aneurysms