Causes of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA)

The causes of AAA an be split into 2 groups:

• those that cannot be changed
• those that can be changed

1) Causes that cannot be changed:

• Age - AAA gets commoner with age - it is rare under the age of 60 years
• Male Sex - males are 15 times more likely to get AAA than females
• AAA in the Family - people with a father or brother with an AAA are 6 times more likely to get an AAA than anyone else

2) Causes that can be changed:

• High blood pressure (hypertension) - this is the commonest reversible cause of AAA
• Smoking - Smoking destroys the arterial wall causing aneurysm - it is only just behind high blood pressure as a cause

People who are at risk of having an aneurysm might not know that they have one - until it ruptures (bursts) or thromboses (blocks). This is because aneurysms rarely cause symptoms until one of these things happen.

As such all patients at risk should be considered for screening