Objective: In 2007, Medicare established ultrasound screening guidelines to identify patients at risk for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). The purpose of this study was to evaluate AAA diagnosis rates and compliance with screening during 10 years (2007-2016) of the Screen for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms Very Efficiently Act implementation within a regional health care system. Methods: A retrospective chart review of all patients screened for AAA from 2007 to 2016 within a regional Veterans Affairs health care system was conducted. Screening criteria were men 65 to 75 years of age who smoked a minimum of 100 cigarettes in their lifetime. An AAA was defined as a maximum aortic diameter ≥3 cm. A comparison was made of the AAA diagnosis rate and clinical adherence rate of screening criteria between the first 5 years and total years evaluated. AAA-related mortality was identified by using terminal diagnosis notes or autopsy reports. All data were recorded by August 31, 2017.
reconstructions. There were 5 celiac, 1 SMA, eight right renal, and 10 left renal events. No type of reconstruction or adjunct was significantly associated with an event (Table ). Overall 5-year patency of all renal/visceral reconstructions was 94% (95% confidence interval, 90%-96%; Fig).Estimated 5-year patency of the celiac, SMA, left renal, and right renal were similar, and were 99%, 100%, 97%, and 96%, respectively (P > .05).Conclusions: Visceral and renal long-term patency after open TAAA repair is excellent regardless of reconstructive technique. No differences are appreciated even when target vessel disease is addressed at the time of reconstruction. These findings continue to substantiate the effective long-term durability of open TAAA repair and are particularly germane to the ongoing evolution of endovascular strategies. Fig. Primary renovisceral patency.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.