Men over the age of 65 have the one-time opportunity to have an ultrasound screening for early detection of an abdominal aortic aneurysm during a health check-up. This does not apply to women, although they die more frequently from such an aneurysm, as a study in the journal “JAMA Network Open” shows.
While women are less likely to have abdominal aortic aneurysms—enlargements in the abdominal artery—they enlarge more quickly and are four times more likely to rupture than men. The new study also shows that women’s chances of survival following a tear and subsequent surgery are poorer.
This was the result of an evaluation of the data from around 1200 women and 4100 men whose abdominal aorta had been operated on. 34 percent of the women died in hospital, and 27 percent of the men. Over the next eight years, 37 percent of the women survived, but 50 percent of the men. This was observed in data from the USA and Canada regardless of patient age and was not related to the method used during the operation.
Experts therefore recommend more studies that examine whether better care and early detection in women are possible and useful. In Germany, the costs for early detection of abdominal aortic aneurysms in women are only covered by health insurance companies if there are special risks, for example in the case of smokers or women with high blood pressure or vascular diseases.
Which: DOI 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.11336