Changes of the infrarenal aortic segment after conventional abdominal aortic aneurysm repair.
OBJECTIVE
to delineate the natural history of the residual infrarenal aortic segment after conventional abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair.


METHODS
open prospective study.


METHODS
between 1990 and 1997, 100 patients, who underwent conventional infrarenal AAA repair at our department, were followed annually by means of colour duplex ultrasonography. Data from 76 patients who had at least 3 scans were analysed.


RESULTS
mean duration of follow-up was 4.7 years (range: 3-8 years). The residual infrarenal aorta dilated a mean of 0.57 mm annually. No patient required reoperation. There was no significant correlation between dilatation and any of the recorded risk factors except for the initial neck diameter (p=0.03).


CONCLUSIONS
conventional AAA surgery is durable so that surveillance, during the first 5 postoperative years, is not justified in terms of cost-effectiveness. The impact of such a dilatation on endovascular AAA repair requires further investigation.
Liapis
C
C
2nd Department of Propedeutic Surgery, Laiko Hospital, Greece.
Kakisis
J
J
Kaperonis
E
E
Papavassiliou
V
V
Karousos
D
D
Tzonou
A
A
Gogas
J
J
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001012:Aorta, Abdominal / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D017544:Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D019917:Blood Vessel Prosthesis Implantation; D004108:Dilatation, Pathologic / Q000175:diagnosis; D018450:Disease Progression; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011184:Postoperative Period; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012008:Recurrence; D012307:Risk Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D018615:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color