Long-term relative survival following surgery for abdominal aortic aneurysm: a review

Background: The literature reporting the long-term survival following surge ry for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) tends to be confusing, As a result, many clinicians looking after patients with AAA may be uncertain about the five-year survival of a given patient. This is in marked contrast to the si tuation for patients with malignant disease, With the current interest in p opulation screening and endoluminal stenting for AAA, an understanding of l ong-term survival is increasingly important, Methods: Thirty two publications in the English language over the last 20 y ears, containing data pertaining to five-year survival following routine el ective surgery for AAA in unselected patients, were identified using Medlin e searches. Results and conclusions: A range of important methodological differences we re noted. The mean five-year crude survival was about 70% while the expecte d survival of a matched population was close to 80%. Survival was further r educed by about 10% in cases with significant coronary heart disease. Age a lone is not a predictor of long-term relative survival with octogenarians w ho survive beyond 30 days surviving longer than an age-matched population. (C) 2001 The International Society for Cardiovascular Surgery. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.