title: Comparison of survival rates for abdominal aortic aneurysm treatment methods.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We compared relative survival rates of patients after various operative treatments for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) to those for the general population. We calculated a point of "recovery," defined as the survival rate equal to that of the general population.
  
  
  METHODS
  Survival data were collected from patients who underwent open repair for a ruptured AAA (rAAA), elective open repair of an AAA (OPEN), and endovascular repair (EVAR) in our hospital between 1995 and 2005. The cumulative relative survival rate and time-specific relative survival rate were calculated for these patients compared to those for the general population. The point of "recovery" was defined as the cumulative relative survival rate equaling the survival rate for the population, and the time-specific relative survival rate reaching 1.0.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The cumulative relative survival rate of the patients immediately after OPEN was lower than for the comparison group at the time the cumulative relative survival rate was regained. The time-specific relative survival rate of the rAAA reached 1.0 at 16 months following emergency surgery, and for OPEN after 10 months. The cumulative relative survival rate in the EVAR group had no impairment following intervention. The relative long-term survival rate in all three surgical groups was the same as that for the general German population.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients treated successfully for AAA have the same relative long-term survival as the general population. The time required to reach the same survival, however, differs between the treatment groups and is longest in the group with a rAAA. The variable survival rates should be taken into consideration when treating patients with an AAA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Visceral, Thoracic, and Vascular Surgery, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technical University of Dresden, Fetscherstrasse 74, 01307, Dresden, Germany. irene.hinterseher@uniklinikum-dresden.de
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hinterseher
authors.forename: Herold
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kuffner
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Koch
authors.forename: Gabor
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gäbel
authors.forename: Hans D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Saeger
authors.forename: Diane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Smelser
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017544:Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal / Q000401:mortality* / Q000601:surgery*; D001019:Aortic Rupture / Q000401:mortality* / Q000601:surgery*; D019917:Blood Vessel Prosthesis Implantation; D057510:Endovascular Procedures; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D015996:Survival Rate