title: Increased growth rate of abdominal aortic aneurysms in women. The Tromsø study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The present study was undertaken in order to assess the effect of gender on the growth rate of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs).
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and eighty-five men and 49 women with AAAs were studied, mean follow-up 62 months, giving 14,544 patient-months of follow-up. A mean of 16 ultrasound examinations was performed on each patient.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean growth rate was 1.82; 1.65 and 2.43 mm per year in men and women, respectively. In a weighted linear regression analysis, high initial diameter and female gender were independent and significant (p < 0.001 and p = 0.003, respectively) predictors for increased growth rate of AAAs. None of the other considered risk factors predicted the growth rate.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first study to report a significantly different growth rate of AAAs in females compared to males. It, thus, adds evidence to the view that AAA is a more malignant condition in females than in males and could have implications for the frequency of follow-up in women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, University Hospital of North-Norway, Tromsø, Norway. steinar.solberg@rikshospitalet.no
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Solberg
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wilsgaard
authors.forename: B K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Jacobsen
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D017544:Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012737:Sex Factors; D014463:Ultrasonography