title: Isolated atherosclerotic aneurysms of the iliac arteries.
abstract: Atherosclerotic aneurysms limited to the iliac arteries are rare and entail a high risk of rupture. To evaluate the efficacy of prophylactic surgery, we retrospectively studied 15 patients (13 men and two women; mean age 69 years) treated for isolated iliac aneurysms in the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery at the University Hospital of Liège over a period of 18 years. They had a total of 25 aneurysms (20 common iliac and five internal iliac). Six patients were treated electively and nine on an emergency basis for rupture. Five of the emergency patients (33%) died in the early postoperative period (< 30 days); in each case the aneurysm had ruptured and an emergency operation was performed (55.5% mortality in the ruptured iliac aneurysm group). On the other hand, all patients treated electively survived. Our study is comparable to other recent series in the literature, which also reported a high incidence of rupture and death in emergency operations. Prophylactic elective surgery is recommended for iliac aneurysms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Liège, Belgium.
authors.forename: Q
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Desiron
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Detry
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sakalihasan
authors.forename: J O
authors.initials: JO
authors.lastname: Defraigne
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Limet
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D017542:Aneurysm, Ruptured / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D001161:Arteriosclerosis / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery*; D001807:Blood Vessel Prosthesis; D017558:Elective Surgical Procedures; D004630:Emergencies; D005260:Female; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D017543:Iliac Aneurysm / Q000150:complications / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D007083:Iliac Artery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome