Is there a familial link with Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms in the UK
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Using the current UK AAA Screening programme to study whether men identified as having an AAA also have family members who have an AAA. Furthermore, if there are other family members identified as having an AAA, is there any discrepancy in size between those with a family history and those without.
IRAS ID
174294
Contact name
Tara Mastracci
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
NHS
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 4 months, 1 days
Research summary
This is a research project focusing on whether there is a familial link with Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms (AAA) in the UK population, and also when they are found to be present within families, are they larger than in those cases where there is no familial link identified. We also intend to ascertain whether screening a patient’s family, if a
patient is found to have an AAA is a worthwhile addition to the current UK Screening Programme.The is a UK AAA Screening Programme currently in place and our data set will be gathered from this. In this study, we intend to contact patients (male and over 65) who have attended our AAA
screening service, and whom have been identified as having an AAA for the first time. We will ask them to invite their relatives to take part in this project. Should the relatives wish to consent to
screening, they will be screened for an AAA using Ultrasonography. This is a non -invasive method of screening.With the data collected we intend to answer the question: does the family member have and aneurysm? If so, what is its diameter? We hope to identify any possible links in families earlier and if successful suggest adding this to the NHS Screening programme already in place with the ultimate aim of reducing mortality from ruptured AAA by identifying more, at an earlier stage.
REC name
West of Scotland REC 4
REC reference
15/WS/0190
Date of REC Opinion
4 Nov 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion