Abdominal aortic aneurysm screening in the United States

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) ruptures account for a high mortality rate in the United States. The Screen for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Very Efficiently (SAAAVE) Act in 2007 was implemented to prevent AAA ruptures and to benefit older US males using the Medicare system to initiate nationwide population-based AAA screening using United States Preventative Services Task Force screening criteria. After the first year of implementation, less than 1 % of all eligible Medicare beneficiaries were screened. A grassroots effort in 2009 sought to improve and modify the SAAAVE Act to include more Medicare enrollees through legislation. The largest integrated health systems, such as the Department of Veterans Affairs and Kaiser Permanente, use an electronic medical record to implement their own population-based AAA screening programs. Despite an underutilization of AAA screening across the US, efforts are underway into improving AAA screening programs and the management of small AAAs with clinical trials and prospective studies.