Screening for abdominal aortic aneurysms.

Ruptured AAA ranks as the 15th leading cause of death overall in the United States, and the 10th leading cause of death in men older than 55 years. Early identification of AAA can save livesand diminish cost. Screening programs havebeen implemented and studied in other countries and have shown a measurable and significant reduction in overall rate of aneurysm-related death. Currently, one-time screening of a small number of ever-smoking men when they turn 65 screening is not widely used in the United States and Medicare, at best, provides one-time screening of a small number of ever-smoking men when they turn 65 years old. Because more than 30,000 individuals in the United States die each year of ruptured AAA, a great deal of progress must be made to eradicate rupture from aneurysmal disease. A more comprehensive system of screening is required and this should be uniformly applied to the U.S. population. It is hoped that scoring systems such as the one outlined in this article, if widely adopted, can greatly enhance screening for aneurysmal disease and prevent the high mortality that stems from this serious vascular disease.