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Background: Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is considered a manifestation of atherosclerosis, however there are epidemiologic, biochemical, and structural differences between occlusive atherosclerosis and AAA. The pathogenesis of AAA involves several factors, fi rst of all destruction of collagen and elastin in the aortic wall. Classical risk factors may infl uence the evolution and development of AAA, though no consistent association has been found. Aims of the study were to evaluate associations between risk factors and to establish the prevalence of carotid, peripheral vascular and coronary atherosclerosis in patients with AAA. Methods: We studied 98 patients with AAA (Group 1) awaiting surgery compared with high cardiovascular risk population having two or more risk factors (n = 82 Group 2). We evaluated traditional risk factors and we studied by eco-doppler and echocardiography the presence of carotid peripheral and coronaric atherosclerosis in two groups. Results: We found a higher incidence of AAA in males (p Ͻ 0.01). The prevalence of infrarenal AAA was signifi cantly higher than suprarenal AAA (81 vs 17 p Ͻ 0.001). No differences in total cholesterol (199 ± 20 vs. 197 ± 25 mg/dl), low-density lipoprotein (142 ± 16 vs. 140 ± 18 mg/dl), triglycerides (138 ± 45 vs. 144 ± 56 mg/dl), glycemia (119 ± 15 vs. 122 ± 20 mg/dl), and fi brinogen (388 ± 154 vs. 362 ± 92 mg/dl) were found between groups. We demonstrated signifi cant differences for cigarette smoking (p Ͻ 0.002), systolic and diastolic blood pressure (150 ± 15 vs. 143 ± 14 mmHg and 88 ± 6 vs. 85 ± 7 mmHg, p Ͻ 0.0001 and p Ͻ 0.05, respectively) and high sensititivity C reactive protein (2.8 ± 1.3 vs. 1.3 ± 0.7 mg/dl, p Ͻ 0.001). High-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels were signifi cant greater in Group 1 than Group 2 (p Ͻ 0.003). Subgroups of patients with AAA and luminal thrombus showed higher fi brinogen levels (564 ± 235 vs. 341 ± 83 mg/dl, p Ͻ 0.001) and lower HDL than in controls (46.6 ± 6.5 vs. 52.1 ± 7.8 mg/dl, p Ͻ 0.01). We did not fi nd any difference in body mass index, or prevalence of coronary and peripheral atherosclerosis between groups. Conversely, we found higher prevalence of carotid atherosclerosis in Group 2 (9% vs. 25%, p Ͻ 0.004). Conclusion: Our AAA patients had fewer and different risk factors respect to patients with atherosclerosis. Only elevated blood pressure, C reactive protein, and smoking showed a signifi cant association with AAA. Atherosclerosis in other arterial districts did not differ respect to subjects with high cardiovascular risk. Our results confi rm the hypothesis that AAA and atherosclerosis are two different pathological entities with different risk profi les.

In this review, we describe the mechanisms linking anaemic status, CRI and CHF, the prognostic relevance of each disease, treatment implications, and potential benefit of EPO administration.

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