Rate of change in abdominal aortic aneurysm diameter after endovascular repair

Abstract

Objective: Untreated abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) enlarge at a mean rate of 3.9 mm/y with great individual variability. We sought to determine the effect of endovascular repair on the rate of change in aneurysm size. Methods: There were 110 patients who underwent endovascular AAA repair at Stanford University Medical Center and who were followed up for 1 to 30 months (mean, 10 months) with serial contrast-infused helical computed tomography (CT). Maximal aneurysm diameter was determined using two independent methods: (1) measured manually, from cross-sectional computed tomography (XSCT) angiograms and (2) calculated from quantitative three- dimensional computed tomography (3DCT) data as orthonormal diameter. Results: Maximal cross-sectional aneurysm diameter measured by hand (XSCT) and calculated as orthonormal values (3DCT) correlated closely (r = 0.915; P < .001). The XSCT-measured diameter was larger by 2.3 ± 3.75 mm (P