Key result
Community-based ultrasonography screening in men aged 65-79 years detected abdominal aortic aneurysms in 6.7% of attendees, indicating that a full screening program would exceed local surgical capacity.
Why the study?
Does community-based ultrasonography screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm in men aged 65-79 years detect aneurysms at a manageable rate for local surgical facilities?
Observational (n=628)
No
Does community-based ultrasonography screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm in men aged 65-79 years detect aneurysms at a manageable rate for local surgical facilities?
A community-based AAA screening program for men aged 65-79 years is feasible in terms of attendance and detection but would likely generate more surgical referrals than local facilities can handle.
May overwhelm local surgical capacity; leaves open whether infrastructure scaling can enable feasible population screening.
A study was carried out to examine the feasibility of setting up a community-based screening programme for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) in men aged 65-79 years served by a district general hospital. A pilot project was run in two general practices from which 800 men were invited to undergo ultrasonography of the abdominal aorta. Of these, 628 (78.5 per cent) attended; 42 (6.7 per cent) were found to have an aneurysm (aortic diameter greater than 29 mm), ten (1.6 per cent) had a large aneurysm (diameter above 49 mm) and seven (1.1 per cent) received aortic grafts. On the basis of these findings it was felt that to screen all men aged 65-79 years (n = 12,800) or aged 65-74 years (n = 10,300) would lead to more operations than local facilities could handle. A more practical option would be to target annually men aged 65 years, with rescreening at intervals of 5 years until age 75 years, but even this would eventually lead to an unmanageable number of operations.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
J Holdsworth (1994) conducted an observational in Abdominal aortic aneurysm (n=628). Ultrasonography screening was evaluated on Detection of abdominal aortic aneurysm (aortic diameter greater than 29 mm). Community-based ultrasonography screening in men aged 65-79 years detected abdominal aortic aneurysms in 6.7% of attendees, indicating that a full screening program would exceed local surgical capacity.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: