Measuring abdominal aortic diameters in routine abdominal computed tomography scans and implications for abdominal aortic aneurysm screening

There is a high prevalence of AAAs (5.8%) and clinically relevant AAAs (4.1%) detected on routine abdominal CT. As an opportunistic approach, it is a simple and effective way to detect AAAs and to broaden traditional screening criteria to include women and those younger than 65 years in our region. Furthermore, large numbers of subjects with normal aortic diameters are identified who will not need to be screened. Consequently, we consider routine diagnostic abdominal CT to be an important adjunct to national and community AAA screening strategies.