Negative association between infra-renal aortic diameter and glycaemia: the Health in Men Study.
OBJECTIVE
There is evidence of a negative association between diabetes and abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). The aim of this study was to assess whether there is a similar relationship between both diabetes and glucose level, and infra-renal aortic diameter throughout its range.


METHODS
Infra-renal aortic diameter was measured using ultrasound in 12,203 men aged 65-83 years as part of a trial of screening for AAA. A range of cardiovascular risk factors were also assessed. In a follow-up study, fasting serum glucose was measured in 2,859 non-diabetic men. Aortic diameter was logarithmically transformed and treated as both a continuous and categorical variable in stepwise multivariate linear and logistic models.


RESULTS
The median aortic diameter was slightly smaller in the diabetic men (21.3+/-3.9 vs 21.6+/-3.8, P<0.0001). There was an independent negative association between diabetes and AAA (OR 0.79, 95% CI: 0.63,0.98), and an inverse correlation (Coefficient: -0.0064, p=0.0024) between fasting glucose and aortic diameter in non-diabetic men.


CONCLUSIONS
Diabetes is inversely associated with both AAA and aortic diameter in men over 65 years. This association is independent of other risk factors for AAA. Aortic diameter also has an inverse relationship with fasting glucose concentrations in men without diabetes.
Le
M T Q
MT
School of Surgery and Pathology, The University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia.
Jamrozik
K
K
Davis
T M E
TM
Norman
P E
PE
D000368:Aged; D001012:Aorta, Abdominal / Q000473:pathology*; D017544:Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D015897:Comorbidity; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D003925:Diabetic Angiopathies / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male
D001786:Blood Glucose