MORTALITY FROM AORTIC-ANEURYSM IN MIGRANTS BETWEEN COUNTIES OF ENGLAND AND WALES - EVIDENCE FOR CAUSES ACTING EARLY IN LIFE

We assessed whether the causes of aortic aneurysm underlying its disti nctive geographical distribution in England and Wales act early or lat er in life from the OPCS data on deaths in England and Wales during Ap ril 1969-December 1972. From these data, we calculated proportional mo rtality ratios (PMRs) for aortic aneurysm by county of birth and count y of death, for men and women aged 45-74. Among people resident in the county of their birth, PMRs for aortic aneurysm by county ranged from 31 in Pembrokeshire to 194 in Surrey. Among 'migrants', who died in a different county from that in which they were born, PMRs by place of death varied from 85 in the group of counties which had the lowest mor tality in non-migrants to 111 in those with the highest mortality in n on-migrants, and PMRs by place of birth varied from 74 in counties wit h lowest mortality in non-migrants to 113 in those with highest mortal ity in non-migrants. After adjustment for place of residence at death, the relation of mortality to place of birth was highly significant st atistically (p<<0.001). These findings indicate important causes of ao rtic aneurysm acting early in life, perhaps related to the formation o f elastin in the arterial wall.