Nonruptured aortic aneurysms.

A retrospective study was undertaken of 221 nonruptured aortic aneurysms treated by operation during a 15 year period. The mortality was 6.3 per cent. Adverse prognostic factors were advanced age, large aneurysms and the presence of associated diseases. One hundred and eighty-eight of the patients were older than 60 years of age and 205 of the aneurysms were 7 centimeters or more in diameter, and associated disease, especially cardiorespiratory, was common. During the same period in which 105 patients with ruptured aortic aneurysms were surgically treated, the mortality was 58 per cent. All patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms had the aneurysms excised, unless there were severe contraindicating factors, such as a limited life expectancy.