Prevalence of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Associated with Hypertension in an Urban Population

Abstract

SETTING AND METHOD: Since 1989 13,000 invitations to screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm have been offered to men aged 60 to 75 living within the Birmingham conurbation. RESULTS: The overall attendance was 76.1% (52-99%). The prevalence of aneurysms greater than 29 mm in the whole male population aged 60 to 75 was 7.2%. For those aged 60 to 64 the prevalence was 3.8%. For those aged between 60 and 64 with hypertension, however, the prevalence of abdominal aortic aneurysm was 7.7%. The relative risk of hypertension associated with aneurysm disease is 2.7. CONCLUSIONS: This paper suggests that all men over 65 should be screened for aortic aneurysm, but that those men over 60 with hypertension should be added to the screened cohort.