Epidemiology of aortic aneurysms: I. Mortality trends in the United States, 1951 to 1981.

The trends in mortality from aortic aneurysms in the United States from 1951 through 1981 were studied. Annual age-specific and age-adjusted mortality for aortic aneurysms were calculated for white males, white females, nonwhite males, and nonwhite females. For all four groups, a constant increase in age-adjusted mortality was noted for the period 1951 to 1968 (an average annual increase of 17% for white males, 12% for white females, 14% for nonwhite males, and 15% for nonwhite females), plateauing in 1968, with a slight decline noted after 1968. The increase corresponded to an increase in the total number of U.S. aortic aneurysm deaths from about 2500 to approximately 14,000. The decline was most notable for dissecting aneurysms. Analysis of the age-specific rates by birth cohort suggests that mortality is increasing with each subsequent cohort. Analysis of specific aneurysm types (dissecting, thoracic, abdominal, and not otherwise specified) suggests that abdominal ones are most common. These data are reviewed in the context of existing knowledge of aortic aneurysms. Further studies to validate these findings and to develop hypotheses for the etiology of aortic aneurysms are needed.