title: Male gender and smoking are related to single, but not to multiple, human aortic aneurysms.
abstract: There is scanty information concerning multiple aortic aneurysms. Thus, we verified if clinical or pathological characteristics are different in patients with multiple (two or more) aortic aneurysms in comparison with those with only one.
  
  
  METHODS
  We selected at the necropsy files of the Heart Institute, São Paulo University School of Medicine, the last 100 cases with aortic aneurysms, comparing between the two groups: sex, age, presence of systemic arterial hypertension, diabetes, dyslipedemia, history of smoking habit, cause of the aneurysm, cause of death, and if the diagnosis was reached during life. Age was analysed by Mann-Whitney test, and the other variables by chi-square or Fisher's exact test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Multiple aneurysms corresponded to 14% of cases. The proportion of women among patients with multiple aneurysms was higher than among those with single aneurysm (64.3% versus 20.9%, P<.01), even if only cases with atherosclerosis were taken into consideration (women among multiple-6/10, 60.0%; among single-14/70, 20.0%; P=.01). Smoking was less reported in cases with multiple (4/14, 28.6%) than with single aneurysm (53/86, 61.6%; P=.04); considering cases with atherosclerosis, such difference decreases (40.0% of multiple versus 68.6% of single, P=.09).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  although atherosclerosis is present in most cases of both single and multiple aortic aneurysms, male gender and smoking, considered highly influential in such lesions, are less frequent in patients with multiple than in patients with single aneurysms. Thus mechanisms underlying multiple aortic aneurysms are probably different from those related to single, more common aneurysms.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Pathology, Heart Institute (InCor), Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil. Electronic address: anppaulo@incor.usp.br.
authors.forename: Paulo S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Gutierrez
authors.affiliation: Clinical Division, Heart Institute (InCor), Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Thiago N P
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Leite
authors.affiliation: Clinical Division, Heart Institute (InCor), Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fernanda M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Mangione
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001014:Aortic Aneurysm / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects*
keywords: Aneurysms; Aorta; Gender; Smoking