The aorta, which is about as thick as a garden hose, runs from the heart , down the chest and then divides into two vessels that supply blood to the legs. An aortic aneurysm may be caused by trauma or a weakened artery wall, present at birth or caused by smoking or high blood pressure.
Many aortic aneurysms are only diagnosed during a routine exam. They frequently cause no symptoms, unless the aneurysm is about to burst. Then symptoms may include a pulsing sensation, lower back pain or a sudden intense pain in the abdomen. However, such symptoms can result from a variety of other conditions.
When to Watch and Wait
Aneurysms that produce no symptoms and are less than 5 cm in diameter don't usually require surgical intervention. Instead, treatment consists of controlling high blood pressure, putting a stop to smoking and having CT scans or ultrasounds every 6 months to monitor the area.
Only about 15,000 of the 200,000 new aneurysms diagnosed each year require surgical treatment.
When to Have Surgery
If an aneurysm reaches 5 cm, the risk of it rupturing and causing potentially fatal bleeding outweighs the risk of surgery.
There are two main approaches: One involves major surgery; the other, newer approach is less invasive.
The open aneurysm repair involves a major abdominal incision and surgical replacement of the weak section of artery with a man-made material. In cases of open surgery on intact (unruptured) aneurysms, 90% of patients recover with no further problems. However, success rates are far lower for surgery on ruptured aneurysms.
The newer approach, which uses an endovascular stent graft, is less invasive. With this method, the surgeon inserts a thin tube (catheter) into an artery at the groin and guides the tube up the artery to make the necessary repair without a surgical incision. Long-term success rates for this newer, endovascular method have yet to be ascertained.
You can read here about how to prevent aortic aneurysms.
Sources:
"Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm." nlm.nih.gov. 7 Dec. 2006. National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health. 25 Nov. 2008 <http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000162.htm>.
"Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm." vascularweb.org. 11 Dec. 2007. Society for Vascular Surgery. 25 Nov. 2008 <http://www.vascularweb.org/patients/NorthPoint/Abdominal_Aortic_Aneurysm.html>.
"Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms." www.sirweb.org. 2008. Society of Interventional Radiology. 25 Nov. 2008 <http://www.sirweb.org/patients/abdominal-aortic-aneurysms/>.
"Aortic Aneurysms." sts.org. 2007. Society of Thoracic Surgeons. 25 Nov. 2008 <http://www.sts.org/sections/patientinformation/aneurysmsurgery/aorticaneurysms>.
