‘Triple’ Screening for AAA, PAD, High BP Reduces Mortality
Marlene Busko
August 31, 2017
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BARCELONA, SPAIN — “Triple-screening” older men for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), peripheral arterial disease (PAD), and hypertension reduced 5-year mortality by 7%, randomized trial results show[1–3].
In the population-based Viborg Vascular (VIVA) trial, 65- to 74-year-old men in central Denmark were randomized to triple screening or no screening. Those found to be positive for any of these conditions then received treatment, including statins and aspirin.
Prof Jes Lindholt
Prof Jes S Lindholt (Odense University Hospital, Denmark) presented these findings at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) 2017, and the results were published simultaneously in the Lancet with study coauthor Dr Rikke Søgaard (Aarhus University, Denmark).
“We believe that this improvement is primarily explained by the 2.5-times higher incidence of elective aneurysm repairs and the doubled initiation rates of antithrombotic and lipid-lowering therapy in the group invited to screening,” Lindholt said in a statement.
The message for clinicians is that AAA and PAD patients ought to receive statins and antiplatelets, he told a press conference here.