Prospective Study by Ultrasonography of Abdominal Aortic Diameter in Atherosclerosis of the Lower Limbs—The Role of Atheromatous Disease: Report of 1,413 Cases

The diameter of the infrarenal abdominal aorta was measured by ultrasonography B- mode scan in 1,413 surgically intact patients with atherosclerosis of the lower limbs. There was a similar increase in abdominal aortic diameter with age in both sexes. Pathologic diameter in men patients was recorded mainly after sixty years of age: in women patients it was observed after the age of seventy. The major risk factors for aortic aneurysm in atherosclerosis obliterans of the lower limbs are smoking, hyperlipidemia with elevated levels of cholesterol, and all three factors combined in association with hypertension. Abdominal aortic diameter was only significantly affected by iliac stenosis.