Quality of life and long-term results after ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm.
OBJECTIVE
Quality of life as an endpoint of surgery and the long-term prognosis for patients who have survived surgery for a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm (RAAA) is not well-documented.


METHODS
The records of all patients from 1993 to 2000 who underwent resection of RAAA were reviewed. Survival data were calculated from direct contact with the patients or follow-up records. All patients who were alive at the time of our study were invited to participate in follow-up investigations. They received the internationally comparable WHO-QOL-BREF-test.


RESULTS
In a period of 7 years, 80 patients underwent surgery for RAAA. The average follow-up time was 5.1 years (1-7.9 years). Our data show that 51% of our patients died within 6 months postoperatively because of the complications of the aortic rupture (in-hospital mortality 39%). Patients who survived the first 6 months after surgery died for the same reasons as the normal population. However, patients who were younger than 75 at the time of RAAA had a higher relative survival rate than a matched sample of the population. There was no significant difference in the quality of life between the study group and the general population.


CONCLUSIONS
RAAA survivors had no difference in long-term survival as compared to the general population and also had very few long-term complications. The WHOQOL-BREF-test suggests that the quality of life of survivors of RAAA is similar to the general population.
Department of Visceral, Thoracic, and Vascular Surgery, Technical University of Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
I
I
Hinterseher
H D
HD
Saeger
R
R
Koch
A
A
Bloomenthal
D
D
Ockert
H
H
Bergert
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017544:Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal / Q000401:mortality*; D001019:Aortic Rupture / Q000401:mortality*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D015996:Survival Rate; D013997:Time Factors