Delin A, Ohlsén H, Swedenborg J
Br J Surg. 1985 Jul;72(7):530-2. doi: 10.1002/bjs.1800720709.
The risk of rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm increases with size. It has thus been recommended that small aneurysms be continuously followed with some type of imaging technique to detect when aneurysm size constitutes an indication for surgery. The present study focuses on the growth rate of abdominal aortic aneurysms in 35 patients who were subjected to repeated computerized tomographic examinations of their abdominal aortic aneurysms. Several aneurysms were measured more than twice resulting in 57 different examinations. The mean growth rate of the transverse diameter was 0.52 cm/year. The individual growth rates were, however, variable. Aneurysms with an initial transverse diameter exceeding 6 cm showed a slightly but not significantly faster increase in size compared with smaller aneurysms. No correlation between initial size and growth rate could be established. Six patients died during the study period, two from myocardial infarction, three after elective aneurysm operations and one, refused for elective operation, died after rupture. It is concluded that the growth rate measured with computed tomography agrees well with previously reported estimates obtained with ultrasonography. It is recommended that small aneurysms particularly in patients with relative contraindications to surgery be followed with repeated examinations of size.
腹主动脉瘤破裂的风险随其大小增加而上升。因此，有人建议对小动脉瘤采用某种成像技术进行持续监测，以便在动脉瘤大小达到手术指征时能够及时发现。本研究聚焦于35例接受腹主动脉瘤重复计算机断层扫描检查患者的腹主动脉瘤生长速率。多个动脉瘤接受了不止两次测量，共计进行了57次不同检查。横径的平均生长速率为每年0.52厘米。然而，个体生长速率存在差异。初始横径超过6厘米的动脉瘤，其大小增长略快，但与较小动脉瘤相比无显著差异。无法确定初始大小与生长速率之间存在相关性。研究期间有6例患者死亡，2例死于心肌梗死，3例在择期动脉瘤手术后死亡，1例拒绝接受择期手术，在动脉瘤破裂后死亡。结论是，计算机断层扫描测量的生长速率与先前超声检查得出的估计值吻合良好。建议对小动脉瘤，尤其是存在手术相对禁忌证的患者，通过重复测量大小进行随访。
