The discharge summaries for Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area res
idents hospitalized during 1979-84 were reviewed for diagnoses of aort
ic aneurysms. Annual age-specific and age-adjusted sex-specific hospit
al discharge diagnoSiS rates were calculated for all aortic aneurysms,
dissecting aortic aneurysms, thoracic aortic aneurysms (nondissecting
), and abdominal aortic aneurysms (nondissecting). For each aortic ane
urysm type, hospital discharge diagnosis rates were found to increase
with age for both men and women. Abdominal aortic aneurysms were the m
ost common type reported (age-adjusted annual rates for men varied bet
ween 40.6 and 49.3 per 100,000 population; for women, between 6.8 and
12.0 per 100, 000 population). Men were noted to have higher rates for
each aneurysm type. An increasing temporal trend was observed for all
aortic aneurysms and abdominal aortic aneurysms among men. These find
ings are reviewed in light of recent data on mortality from aortic ane
urysms in the United States.