In: Nursing
1. This patient is suffering from abdominal aortic aneurysm. This is indicated by the imaging study
2. The risk factors in this patie t are: smoking, hypercholesterolemia and uncontrolled hypertension.
Other risk factors include hyperhomocysteinemia, coronary artery disease, Marfan's syndrome, alcohol use etc.
3. The imaging study ordered was Contrast enhanced CT scan of the thorax and abdomen. This has showed a dilation of aorta to 5.4cm which indicated aortic aneurysm.
4. The treatment protocol takes into consideration the risks and benefits of surgery. The risks of aneurysm rupture is considered and compared to risk from surgery. The goal of the treatment is to prevent rupture of aortic aneurysm, which has very high mortality rate.
It also takes into consideration the age of the patient.
Aortic aneurysms with size less than 4 cm, the annual riskbof rupture is negligible while for an aneurysm with size more than 8cm, the risk is 30 to 50 percent per year.
Other factors that add to risk of rupture include smoking, female sex and COPD.
The society for vascular surgery has recommended surgical repair of all aortic aneurysms more than 5.5 cm.
Endovascular Vs open repair is another consideration. In general, younger patients, patients with connective tissue disorder, situations in which anatomy is not suitable for endovascular repair are posted for open repair.