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Medical Author:

Benjamin Wedro, MD, FACEP, FAAEM

Benjamin Wedro, MD, FACEP, FAAEM

Dr. Ben Wedro practices emergency medicine at Gundersen Clinic, a regional trauma center in La Crosse, Wisconsin. His background includes undergraduate and medical studies at the University of Alberta, a Family Practice internship at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario and residency training in Emergency Medicine at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.

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Medical Editor:

William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

William C. Shiel Jr., MD, FACP, FACR

Dr. Shiel received a Bachelor of Science degree with honors from the University of Notre Dame. There he was involved in research in radiation biology and received the Huisking Scholarship. After graduating from St. Louis University School of Medicine, he completed his Internal Medicine residency and Rheumatology fellowship at the University of California, Irvine. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology.

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In this Article

• Abdominal aortic aneurysm facts
• What is an aneurysm?
• What is an aortic aneurysm?
• What is the thoracic and abdominal aorta?
• Where do aortic aneurysms tend to develop?
• What shape are most aortic aneurysms?
• What is inside an aortic aneurysm?
• Who is most likely to have an abdominal aortic aneurysm?
• What are risk factors of aortic aneurysms?
• What is the most common cause of aortic aneurysms?
• What are other causes of aortic aneurysms?
• What are the symptoms of an abdominal aortic aneurysm?
• How is an abdominal aortic aneurysm diagnosed clinically?
• What tests help in the diagnosis of an abdominal aortic aneurysm?
• What is the natural history of abdominal aortic aneurysm?
• What are the complications with an abdominal aortic aneurysm?
• How are abdominal aortic aneurysms repaired?
• What is done if an abdominal aortic aneurysm threatens to rupture?
• What is the medical management (nonsurgical management) of abdominal aortic aneurysm?
• Patient Comments: Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm - Experience
• Patient Comments: Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm - Symptoms
• Patient Comments: Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm - Surgery Experience
• Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Index

Other causes of aortic aneurysms include:

• Genetic/hereditary: Genetics may play a role in developing an aortic aneurysm. The risk of having an aneurysm increases if a first-degree relative also has one. The aneurysm may present at a younger age and is also at a higher risk of rupture.
• Genetic disease: Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and Marfan syndrome are two connective tissue diseases that are associated with the development of aortic aneurysm. Abnormalities of the connective tissue in the layers of the aortic wall can contribute to weakness in sections of the aorta.
• Post-trauma: Trauma can injure the aortic wall and cause immediate damage or it may cause an area of weakness that will form an aneurysm over time.
• Arteritis: Inflammation of blood vessels as occurs in Takayasu disease, giant cell arteritis, and relapsing polychondritis can contribute to aneurysm.
• Mycotic (fungal) infection: A mycotic or fungal infection may be associated with immunodeficiency, IV drug abuse, syphilis, and heart valve surgery.

Most abdominal aortic aneurysms produce no symptoms (they are asymptomatic) and are discovered incidentally when an imaging test of the abdomen (CT scan or ultrasound) is performed. They can also be detected by physical examination when the health care professional feels the abdomen and listens for a bruit, the sound made by turbulent blood flow.

Pain is the most common symptom when the aneurysm expands or ruptures. It often begins in the central abdomen and radiates to the back or flank. Other symptoms can occur depending upon where the aneurysm is located in the aorta and whether nearby structures are affected.

Abdominal aortic aneurysms can remain asymptomatic or produce minimal symptoms for years. However, a rapidly expanding abdominal aneurysm can cause sudden onset of severe, steady, and worsening middle abdominal and back or flank pain. Rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm can be catastrophic, even lethal, and is associated with abdominal distension, a pulsating abdominal mass, and shock due to massive blood loss.