Screening for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm

Preventing Diseases: High Blood Pressure

Talk With Your Health Care Provider About Screening for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm.

What is an Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm?

An aneurysm (“AN-yuh-rizm”) is a bulge in a weakened blood vessel. An aneurysm can lead to serious problems.

Your heart pumps blood to the lower part of your body through a large blood vessel called the “abdominal aorta.” If an aneurysm develops here, it is called an abdominal aortic aneurysm.

Is an Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm serious?

Most people who have aneurysms don’t have any symptoms.
A large aneurysm can burst. This is very serious, and can even result in death.
If you have a large aneurysm, you may need surgery. Finding large aneurysms with screening before they burst may make the surgery and recovery easier.

Who should be screened?

Men between the age of 65 and 75, who have EVER smoked cigarettes, should be screened. Other people do not benefit as much from screening.

Screening is painless and quick and is usually done at a radiology clinic visit. An ultrasound is used to create a picture of your abdominal aorta using sound waves. The width of your abdominal aorta is then measured to determine whether there is a bulge.

What happens after screening?

Your next step depends on whether the test finds a bulge in the aorta. If you have a small or medium bulge, your provider may recommend “watchful waiting,” which means having your aneurysm re-checked periodically.