Trace elements in the wall of abdominal aortic aneurysms with and without coexisting iliac artery aneurysms.

Iliac artery aneurysms (IAA) and abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) frequently coexist. It remains unknown whether the content of trace elements in AAA walls depends on the coexistence of IAAs. The aim of this study was to compare the content of selected trace elements in AAA walls depending on the coexistence of IAAs. The content of trace elements was assessed in samples of AAA walls harvested intraoperatively in 19 consecutive patients. In the studied group, coexisting IAAs were diagnosed in 11 out of the 19 patients with AAA. The coexistence of IAAs was associated with a slightly lower content of nickel (0.28 (0.15-0.40) vs. 0.32 (0-0.85) mg/g; p = 0.09) and a significantly higher content of cadmium (0.71 (0.26-1.17) vs. 0.25 (0.20-0.31) mg/g; p = 0.04) in AAA walls. The levels of the remaining studied elements, copper, zinc, manganese, magnesium and calcium, were comparable. The elevated levels of cadmium in the walls of AAA coexisting with IAAs may suggest an impact of the accumulation of this trace element on the greater damage of the iliac artery wall.