Long-term incidence of myocardial infarct, stroke, and mortality in patients operated on for abdominal aortic aneurysms

Objective

The risks of myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke after abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) resection are not known. Prophylaxis with aspirin and statins is not generally recommended, although patients with AAAs have an increased prevalence of cardiovascular atherosclerosis. We report the incidences of MI, stroke, and death in an unselected national cohort of patients operated on for AAAs, with the general population as the control group.

Methods

In a matched cohort study, 11,094 Danish patients who underwent acute or elective open AAA repair from January 1986 through June 2009 were compared with four randomly chosen age- and sex-matched individuals (controls) from the general population (n = 44,364). Data were collected retrospectively from the Danish Vascular Registry (Karbase), the National Population Registry, and the National Inpatient Registry. The groups were analyzed for the incidences of MI, stroke, and death, with up to 20 years of follow-up.

Results

AAA patients had an annual MI incidence of 2.5% (hazard ratio, 2.1; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.9-2.2) compared with the general population. The annual incidence of stroke was 2.9% (hazard ratio, 1.8; 95% CI, 1.6-1.9), and there was a 2.4-fold (95% CI, 2.3-2.4) increase in the hazard of all-cause mortality compared with the general population.

Conclusion

AAA patients of both sexes have a high risk of atherosclerotic events (MI, stroke) and death, so lifelong prophylaxis must be considered from our epidemiologic data. Randomized trials investigating the potential benefit of aspirin and statin therapy in AAA patients are needed.