Coprevalence and incidence of lung cancer in patients screened for abdominal aortic aneurysm

Abstract

Background/Aim: Lung diseases are common in patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA). This study evaluates the prevalence of lung cancer (LC) in high-risk patients screened for AAA. Patients and Methods: Six hundred and one male patients (≥65 years of age, cardiovascular highrisk profile) were enrolled and followed prospectively over a median of 16.5 months. Results: In 29 patients (4.8%) LC and in another 50 patients (8.3%) AAA were found. The prevalence of LC among patients with AAA was even higher (9 of 50, 18.0%). Twenty-one patients had an initial diagnosis of LC, with an incidence of 12.0% (6 of 50) in patients with AAA. During follow-up, 14 of 70 patients with AAA and/ or LC (20.0%) deceased. The highest mortality was found in patients with LC only (8 of 20, 40.0%), followed by patients with both AAA and LC (3 of 9, 33.3%), while patients with AAA only had the lowest mortality rate (3 of 41, 7.3%). Conclusion: In patients with a high cardiovascular risk profile, a high prevalence of both AAA and LC were found, whereby the prognosis is largely determined by the LC. Therefore, LC is of particular importance in the setting of screening and surveillance of AAA.