Screening for XXXX during transthoracic echocardiography.

@entity1 @entity384 @entity439 @entity741 @entity731 @entity1028
@entity1 undergoing transthoracic echocardiography often have @entity731 and may be at risk for the development of @entity1028 . We therefore examined the abdominal aorta by ultrasound in 323 consecutive @entity1 undergoing routine two-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography over a 6-month period. Measurements were made of aortic length (diaphragm to most caudal portion visualized) and maximum diameter. The study group comprised 169 @entity1 and 154 @entity1 with an average age of 57 +/- 19 years (range 13 to 94). The abdominal aorta was imaged in 265 (82%) @entity1 . The average aortic length visualized was 13.0 +/- 4.6 cm, the average diameter 1.7 +/- 0.4 cm, and the time required for screening < 5 minutes. Seven (3%) @entity1 were identified as having abdominal aortas > or = 2.5 cm in diameter: 1 with an @entity439 measuring 6.7 cm in diameter and 6 with mild dilatations measuring 2.5 to 3.0 cm in diameter. One of the @entity1 with mild @entity384 was subsequently found to have an @entity439 measuring 3.5 cm in diameter. @entity384 was associated with male gender (p = 0.0006) and older age (p = 0.05) but was not associated with a history of @entity741 (p = 0.16). From these results, we conclude that screening for @entity1028 in @entity1 undergoing transthoracic echocardiography is practical and clinically useful. Only a small number of these @entity1 are identified as having @entity439 , but the low cost and brief time required suggest that routine screening in this population may be worthwhile.
