Prognosis of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms in Denmark from 1994–2008

Jes S Lindholt1, Rikke S gaard2, Jesper Laustsen31Vascular Research Unit, Department of Vascular Surgery, Viborg Hospital, Clinical Institute, University of Aarhus, 2Centre for Applied Health Service Research and Technology Assessment, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, 3Department of Vascular Surgery, Aarhus University Hospital, DenmarkIntroduction: Few modern population-based estimates of the prognosis of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm (rAAA) exist.Methods and materials: From 1994–2008, a total of 6954 rAAA cases were identified in Danish nationwide population-based registries.Results: Of 3148 (45%) surgery cases, 1454 (46%) died within 30 days of surgery. The overall mortality risk of rAAA was 76%. The proportion of patients who received surgery increased from 44%, in the first study period, to 47% in the last study period; the 30-day postoperative mortality rate decreased from 51% to 42%; and the overall mortality risk declined significantly from 77% to 74% (odds ratio: 0.86: 95% confidence interval: 0.77–0.97). However, the age-adjusted mortality rate remained unchanged, due to the increased incidence of rAAA.Keywords: prognosis, ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm, epidemiology, mortality