New screening recommended for older male smokers

AORN Journal,  March, 2005  

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The US Preventive Services Task Force has issued a recommendation that men between the ages of 65 and 75 years who are or have been smokers have a one-time ultrasound to screen for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), according to a Jan 31, 2005, news release from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. These men are at the highest risk for AAA.

Abdominal aortic aneurysms cause approximately 9,000 deaths in the United States each year. This number may be even higher because an estimated 59% to 83% of patients with ruptured AAAs die before reaching the hospital and having surgery, and their deaths may be attributed to other causes.

In the past, there has been insufficient evidence to screen for AAA, but new evidence shows that screening and surgery to repair large AAAs can reduce the number of deaths caused by this condition. Based on the evidence reviewed, the task force recommends against screening for AAA in women and makes no recommendation for or against screening for men between 65 and 75 years who never smoked.

Task Force Recommends that Mate Smokers Between the Ages of 65 and 75 Be Screened for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (news release, Rockville, Md: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Jan 31, 2005).

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