¿Está justificado el cribado de aneurisma de aorta abdominal en pacientes con hernia inguinal? Estudio de prevalencia en la Comunidad Asturiana

Introduction. Early detection of abdominal aortic aneurysms is broadly accepted as a prominent issue to reduce the high morbimortality rates results from ruptured AAAs, especially in high-risk population. Aim. To estimate whether inguinal hernia (IH) must be considered as a risk factor for the development of an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). Subjects and methods. A multi centric, prospective case-control study was designed. 291 patients suffering from IH expecting surgical repair were compared with 459 controls. We seek to evaluate the association between AAA and IH. AAA is defined by a maximum aortic diameter of 30 mm or more measured by ultrasonography. All male aged 50-yearsold or older subjects were recruited from a single population. Results. An overall 750 abdominal duplex-scans were performed. We found a similar prevalence of AAA in both groups: 3.8 % for the hernia group and 3.5 % for the controls. Conclusion. According to the results, we can not confirm a positive association between AAA and IH. Thus, present data do not support selective screening in patients with IH for an early AAA detection. [ANGIOLOGÍA 2008; 60: 403-8]