title: Cardiovascular prognosis at 1-year of patients with acute coronary syndrome is related to abdominal aortic aneurysm despite small size of the aneurysm.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Global cardiovascular (CV) risk associated with abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) has been poorly documented. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the presence of AAA in patients hospitalized for acute coronary syndrome with coronary stenosis (≥50%) was associated with an increased CV risk at 1-year follow-up.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between February 1, 2008 and March 30, 2009, 304 patients admitted for acute coronary syndrome with significant (≥50% stenosis) coronary lesions underwent echocardiography to check for presence of AAA. Twenty AAAs were diagnosed, of average (±standard deviation) diameter 33 ± 3.7 mm. Follow-up at 1 year was available for 288 patients (95%). Variables recorded at 1 year were death, cause of death, and occurrence of nonfatal CV events of cardiac or peripheral vascular origin.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During follow-up, 65 patients (22.6%) experienced an event (all-cause death or nonfatal CV event), including 21 deaths (7.3%) and 44 nonfatal CV events (15.3%). The presence of AAA significantly increased the risk of any CV event (fatal or nonfatal) at 1 year (hazard ratio: 2.96, 95% CI: 1.49-5.89, p = 0.002) but did not influence overall mortality or CV mortality.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results show that in patients with coronary artery disease already at high CV risk, the presence of AAA was associated with worse CV prognosis at 1 year, and incurred an increased risk of occurrence of any CV event (fatal and nonfatal).
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular Medecine, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Reims, Reims, France.
authors.forename: Huu Tri
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Bui
authors.forename: Coralie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Barbe
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nazeyrollas
authors.forename: Damien
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Metz
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Long
mesh_terms: D054058:Acute Coronary Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000401:mortality; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017544:Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000401:mortality; D002423:Cause of Death; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D023921:Coronary Stenosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality; D018450:Disease Progression; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005602:France; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013997:Time Factors