INFLAMMATORY ABDOMINAL AORTIC-ANEURYSMS AND ATHEROSCLEROTIC ABDOMINALAORTIC-ANEURYSMS - COMPARISONS OF CLINICAL-FEATURES AND LONG-TERM RESULTS

A total of 274 patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms due to atheros clerosis (AAA) and 16 patients with inflammatory abdominal aortic aneu rysms (IAAA) were reviewed to compare and contrast the clinical charac teristics of the 2 groups. The AAA group comprised 243 men and 31 wome n with a mean age of 69.2 +/- 0.4 (range 51-86) years. The IAAA group comprised 15 men and 1 woman with a mean age of 67.4 +/- 2.0 (range 53 -81) years. Most patients with IAAA (12/16; 75.0%) had pain at present ation, whereas only 37 out of 274 patients (13.5%) with AAA had pain ( p < 0.001). Fifty out of 274 patients (18.2%) with AAA were asymptomat ic, the most common principal complaint being a pulsatile tumor, which was found in 150 out of 274 patients (54.7%; p < 0.005 vs IAAA). Rega rding laboratory findings of inflammation, preoperative erythrocyte se dimentation rate values were elevated in 15 out of 16 (93.8%) patients , and C-reactive protein values were elevated in 13 out of 16 (81.3%) patients with IAAA. The incidence of perioperative complications was s imilar in the 2 groups. The 30-day postoperative mortality among AAA p atients was 6.2% (17/274 cases), including 12 cases of non-ruptured an d 5 cases of ruptured AAA; in contrast, no early deaths occurred among patients with IAAA. The cumulative 5-year survival rate was 80.2% for IAAA patients and 74.6% for AAA patients (NS). The results of our rev iew suggest that, careful diagnosis and intra- and postoperative manag ement could lead to patients with IAAA having a similar survival rate to those with AAA.