The role of ultrasound to detect aortic aneurysms in "urological" patients.

The adoption of ultrasound as a means of imaging the urinary tract instead of the intravenous urogram (IVU) has resulted in an interesting observation. Men undergoing ultrasound examination of the urinary tract are often noted to have an incidental abdominal aortic aneurysm. Screening programmes for such aneurysms are being investigated around the country. We have looked at the prevalence of abdominal aortic aneurysm in male urological patients aged 65-80 years as they pass through the radiology department, in order to have an ultrasound scan of the urinary tract. When the IVU was the standard rate of imaging, few aneurysms were noted. On changing to ultrasound, 3.1% of patients were found to have an aneurysm. This rose to 9.5% when a deliberate policy of imaging the abdominal aorta was included. We suggest it is well worth the minimal extra time and effort to examine the aorta of "urological" patients, as more serious pathology may be detected than that for which the scan was originally ordered.