Prevalence of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Associated with Hypertension in an Urban Population

Setting and method - Since 1989 13 000 invitations to screening for abdominalaor­ tic aneurysm have been offered to men aged 60 to 75 living within the Birmingham conurbation. Results- The overall attendance was 76'1% (52-99%). The prevalence of aneurysms greater than 29 mm in the whole male population aged 60 to 75 was 7'2%. For those aged 60 to 64 the prevalence was 3·8%. For those aged between 60 and 64 with hypertension, however, the pre­ valence ofabdominal aortic aneurysm was 7'7%. The relative risk ofhypertension as­ sociated with aneurysm disease is 2'7. Conclusion - This paper suggests that all men over 65 should be screened for aortic aneurysm, but that those men over 60 with hypertension should be added to the screened cohort.