Trends in abdominal aortic aneurysm prevalence and mortality in non-European countries

After 3 decades of epidemiologic research on abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), prevalence and mortality rates from AAA in England and Scandinavian countries have been shown to be decreasing , raising the question about what the trends of prevalence and mortality rates from AAA in non-European countries are. With that aim, we conducted a literature search for observational studies and randomized controlled trials that assessed prevalence and mortality rates in non-European populations published since January 1983 till June 2013 in MEDLINE, EMBASE and LILACS electronic databases. The search strategy was [abdominal aortic aneurysm] and the name of all non-European countries, which were 170 countries in total. We screened 4740 full article (or abstracts). We found 20 studies referring to the prevalence of AAA from 14 countries . Additionally, other 8 studies reported mortality rates in 5 countries . Twelve studies assessed prevalence of AAA using abdominal ultrasound as diagnostic tool in general population or elderly population . The other eight prevalence studies assessed AAA prevalence in population with additional risk factors including coronary artery disease, peripheral vascular disease or stroke , or using different imaging modalities or incidentally noted and were included as they were the only epidemiologic data on AAA available from 7 countries. An additional study of mortality rate due to overall aortic aneurysm and dissection was included, as it described a trend and ...
Source: International Journal of Cardiology - Category: Cardiology Authors: Tags: Online letters to the editor Source Type: research