Morphometric predictors of outcomes following AAA interventions
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Morphometric predictors of post-operative outcomes following abdominal aortic aneurysm surgery.
IRAS ID
228484
Contact name
Mohammed Abdul Waduud
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Leeds teaching hospitals NHS Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 8 months, 31 days
Research summary
Obesity is typically defined by calculating a patient’s body mass index (BMI). However it is widely accepted in the medical profession to be an imprecise measure of obesity, especially when used alone. Obesity has been shown to be associated with poor post-operative outcomes. For example, in vascular surgery a high BMI has been shown to be associated with an increased likelihood of wound dehiscence following surgery. It is therefore important to accurately quantify obesity in order to reliably identify patients at risk of developing post-operative complications. Alternative methods to measure obesity in the medical literature include measuring the area of fat on radiological imaging.
Sarcopenia is characterised by the progressive loss of muscle and function. Previous studies in have suggested sarcopenia to be associated post-operative frailty and death. It is therefore important to identify these patients so that appropriate pre- and post- operative measures can be undertaken such as exercise and support. Similarly to fat, the area of muscle can also be measured on radiological imaging.
We intend to measure obesity and sarcopenia on existing radiological images for patients who have undergone intervention for an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). The two dominant strategies for surgically managing an AAA includes endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) and open surgical repair (OSR). Current evidence from large trails show EVAR to have a lower short-term death rate than OSR. However this initial benefit is lost in the longer-term. To date, there is no reliable method to predict patients who are at an increased risk of dying following both types of interventions. We believe measuring the fat and muscle on pre-operative imaging and surveillance imaging at one year may provide us with a potential insight to predicting outcomes.
REC name
North of Scotland Research Ethics Committee 1
REC reference
17/NS/0101
Date of REC Opinion
18 Oct 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion