When a weak area of the abdominal aorta expands or bulges, it is called an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA).
The aorta is the body´s largest artery, carrying blood from the heart to smaller branch arteries. An aortic aneurysm is an abnormal weakening of parts of the aorta. The pressure from blood flowing through the aorta can cause the weakened part to bulge. An aneurysm can stretch the aorta wall to the extent that it finally bursts or ruptures. A ruptured aneurysm can cause severe internal bleeding and leads to death in over 65% of instances. Fortunately, especially when diagnosed early, an aortic aneurysm can be treated, or even cured, with highly effective and safe treatments.
There are two main types of aortic aneurysms , thoracic and abdominal, depending on which part of the aorta is affected; the upper part that traverses the chest (thoracic aortic aneurysm ) or the lower part that traverses the abdomen (abdominal aortic aneurysm, AAA ). About three in four of all aortic aneurysms are AAA.
In most cases individuals experience no symptoms at all or only vague symptoms of AAA until the aneurysm ruptures. Therefore the true prevalence of AAA is not known, but it is estimated that 1.5-9% of men and 1-2% of women have this condition. The rupture of AAA causes roughly 15,000 deaths every year in the United States.
Research suggests that AAA has a strong familial component. This indicates that there is an important genetic contribution to the risk of developing AAA. Recently, our scientists at deCODE genetics identified a common genetic variant on chromosome 9 that is associated with increased risk of AAA.
The deCODEme Genetic Scan identifies a variant on chromosome 9 that correlates strongly (r²= 0.9) with the variant associated with increased risk of AAA and provides an interpretation of the risk of developing AAA for individuals of European ancestry. The same variant also increases the risk of heart attack in individuals of both European and Asian ancestry and intracranial aneurysms in European individuals. At the present time, information about the risk of AAA conferred by this genetic variant on individuals of other ethnicities is not available.
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This disease has different risk results for different populations. Below you can select the population you belong to.