Has the balance of screening for AAA tipped towards harm?
Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) are usually asymptomatic until they rupture, which is fatal in more than 80% of cases.
Screening aims to detect the aneurysm before it ruptures, enabling preventive surgery and hence reducing morbidity and mortality. However, preventive surgery has a mortality of 3.9-4.5%.
As the prevalence of risk factors, ie...