Abdominal aortic aneurysm ultrasound
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Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Microchapters |
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Differentiating Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm from other Diseases |
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Diagnosis |
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Treatment |
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Case Studies |
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Abdominal aortic aneurysm ultrasound On the Web |
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Directions to Hospitals Treating Abdominal aortic aneurysm ultrasound |
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Risk calculators and risk factors for Abdominal aortic aneurysm ultrasound |
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor-In-Chief: Cafer Zorkun, M.D., Ph.D. [2]; Hardik Patel, M.D.
Overview
Abdominal ultrasound is the standard imaging modality used to detect and follow the progression of an abdominal aortic aneurysm. When performed by an expert, it has a sensitivity and specificity close to 100% and 96%, respectively. Abdominal ultrasound can also detect mural thrombus, iliac artery aneurysms, and free peritoneal blood.
Ultrasound
Abdominal ultrasound is the standard imaging modality to detect and follow the progression of an abdominal aortic aneurysm. When performed by an expert, it has a sensitivity and specificity close to 100% and 96%, respectively. Abdominal ultrasound can also detect mural thrombus, iliac artery aneurysms, and free peritoneal blood. Abdominal ultrasound is noninvasive, fast, inexpensive, safe, well-tolerated by most patients, and can be performed at the bedside immediately if an AAA is suspected. Screening using ultrasonography causes no serious side effects, and is therefore ethically acceptable to screen patients at risk for AAA, to determine the size of the aneurysm, and to observe the aneurysm over time. However, the ability to screen the abdominal aorta is reduced in the presence of bowel gas or obesity.
Shown below is an ultrasound image of a normal abdominal aorta measuring 1.9 cm in diameter:
Copyleft image obtained courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:US_normal_abdominal_aorta.JPG; James Heilman, MD.
References