Abdominal aorta screening during transthoracic echocardiography.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of a modified abdominal ultrasound examination, performed as an extension of a routine diagnostic transthoracic echocardiography. This modified examination is arguably a simple, safe, quick, and accurate way to identify patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA).


METHODS
This prospective study, conducted over a 6-month period, sought to obtain the maximum diameter of the abdominal aorta through a routine transthoracic echocardiography.


RESULTS
In 1285 patients, 1175 abdominal aortas were visualized (91.4%). The prevalence of AAA was 3.8% (45/1175), which increased with age. Six patients, who had diameters more than 5 cm, were referred to a surgeon. In the patients with AAA, left ventricular hypertrophy and left ventricular dilatation were more frequent.


CONCLUSIONS
Routine screening of the abdominal aorta during transthoracic echocardiography is recommended on account of the prevalence of AAA in unselected and, in particular, older patients.
Roshanali
Farideh
F
Day General Hospital, Tehran, Iran. farideh_roshanali@yahoo.com
Mandegar
Mohammad Hossein
MH
Yousefnia
Mohammad Ali
MA
Mohammadi
Azam
A
Baharvand
Babak
B
D000328:Adult; D001012:Aorta, Abdominal / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D017544:Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015995:Prevalence; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity