title: Changes of the infrarenal aortic segment after conventional abdominal aortic aneurysm repair.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: 2nd Department of Propedeutic Surgery, Laiko Hospital, Greece.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liapis
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kakisis
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kaperonis
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Papavassiliou
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Karousos
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tzonou
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gogas
mesh_terms: 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