Risk factors in abdominal aortic aneurysm
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Risk factors in abdominal aortic aneurysm
IRAS ID
141235
Contact name
Damian M Bailey
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of South Wales
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), a swelling of the abdominal aorta artery (> 3cm), affects 5% of the population. Risk factors for this condition include being male, having high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking and family history. Aneurysms can grow in size, which increases the risk of rupture and death (80% mortality, Basnyat et al. 2002).
When the size of the aneurysm reaches 5.5cm, the benefits of an operation outweigh these risks. Size can easily be measured using ultrasound and successive scans form the basis of existing screening/surveillance programmes.In South Wales, the East Glamorgan General Hospital and now the Royal Glamorgan Hospital have been running an AAA screening programme since 1994 and every patient screened completes a risk factor questionnaire.
The questionnaire includes patient demographics (name, address, date of birth, age and sex), past medical history (high blood pressure, heart disease, brain artery disease, lung disease, diabetes and peripheral artery disease), past surgical history (surgery to arteries or veins), drug history, social history (smoking), family history (close relatives having -had- an aneurysm) and aneurysmal size at screening.The aim of the current proposal is to identify risk factors for AAA and to document the cumulative frequency in patients with and without AAA (across a spectrum of AAA diameters, e.g. i. Control: No AAA ii. AAA: < 3.0 cm (ectatic) iii. 3.0-43.9 cm iv. 4.0-4.9 and v. > 5.0 cm), confirmed during clinical screening.
Furthermore, we will specifically determine if family history is indeed a risk factor, a concept that at present remains equivocal.In addition to confirming the classic risk factors, we hypothesise that there will be no correlation between family history and higher incidence of AAA in the screened population.
A retrospective population based cohort study will be carried out where prospectively collected patient questionnaire over the last 18 years (since 1994) will be reviewed. This will represents the biggest cohorts examined to-date in Wales.
REC name
London - South East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/LO/1958
Date of REC Opinion
30 Oct 2014
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion