Journal
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF VASCULAR AND ENDOVASCULAR SURGERY
Volume 38, Issue 3, Pages 278-284Publisher
W B SAUNDERS CO LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.ejvs.2009.05.004
Keywords
Abdominal aortic aneurysm; Gender; Epidemiology; Aetiotogy; Rupture; Treatment
Categories
Funding
- Foundation 'Lijf en Leven'
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Objectives: To unravel the extent to which gender plays a rote in the epidemiology, aetiology, risk of rupture and treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) and to give an overview of these factors. Design, Materials and Methods: A literature review was performed in the MedLine database and Cochrane Library for gender-specific articles on epidemiology, aetiology, risk of rupture and treatment of AAAs. Results: Our literature review suggests that the prevalence of AAA in women is underestimated. Regarding aetiology, an oestrogen-mediated reduction in macrophage MMP-9 production seems to be an important mechanism causing gender-related differences in AAA development. We found consensus in the literature that women run a greater risk of rupture compared to men under the current management rules for AAAs. Their treatment mortality also seems to be higher for both elective and ruptured repair. Conclusions: Gender-specific guidelines should be put into place for the management of AAAs and awareness for this disease should be increased, both in women themselves and in their doctors. (C) 2009 European Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available