Elective Treatment Rates and Surgical Non-eligibility Among Men and Women With Intact Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms

Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Clinical Trial

Official title:

Elective Treatment Rates Among Patients With Intact Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms -Patient- and Aneurysm-related Factors as Determinants of Surgical Non-eligibility in Women and Men

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT05346289
• Other study ID #: ESPN201689310422
• Status: Completed
• Start date: June 1, 2020
• Est. completion date: November 1, 2022

Study information

• Verified date: November 2022
• Source: Karolinska University Hospital
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Observational

Clinical Trial Summary

The overall aim is to determine the frequency by which women and men with intact abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) are treated with elective surgery at three vascular outpatient clinics in Europe, and to investigate whether the reasons to refrain from elective surgery differ between the sexes.

Description:

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a local widening of the infrarenal aorta (1). The natural history of AAA is progressive and may lead to rupture, a true surgical emergency with a mortality rate of 100% without immediate treatment. Men are more commonly affected (2, 3), however, women demonstrate a notably elevated risk of rupture (4, 5) and constitute up to 1/3 of all ruptures (4, 5). One plausible explanation could be a sex discrepancy in elective treatment rates.

There is both national and international evidence implying that AAA treatments, both elective and emergent, are withheld among women (6-14). Studies on elective treatment rates are especially scarce, as the vast majority of databases and vascular registries only include data on treated AAA patients. A few single-center studies from the UK (6, 7, 15) and one meta-analysis (8) have recorded lower treatment rates among women. We have recently analyzed the issue of elective treatment rates in our group using a population-based approach (manuscript submitted). Of all patients diagnosed with an intact AAA in Sweden during 2001-2015 (n=32 393, 21% women), a crude proportion as high as 60 % did not proceed to receive surgical treatment. The proportion of untreated women (67 %) surpassed that of men (59 %). In the multivariate analyses, female sex and advanced age emerged as the strongest predictors for remaining untreated despite other characteristics such as comorbidities, civil status and individual disposable household income. The median time from diagnosis to treatment for those treated was surprisingly short at 1.6 years.

The foremost intention-to-treat variable that determines the indication for elective surgery is the maximal diameter of the aneurysm (55 mm in men, 50 mm in women; (16, 17)). Population-based investigations, while comprehensive, fall short in terms of aneurysm-specific data. Therefore, these analyses assume comparable diameter distributions and similar morphology for men and women. Similarly, longitudinal follow-up data from the clinical setting, such as records of patient's wishes and physiological preoperative examinations, cannot be extracted for the purpose of nationwide analyses. Thus, the question remains whether the observed gender gap in elective treatment rates persists after detailed considerations of patient- and aneurysm-specific characteristics. A discrepancy in elective treatment rates could also lead to different long-term outcomes, with higher rupture and mortality rates among women.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 400
• Est. completion date: November 1, 2022
• Est. primary completion date: February 14, 2022
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 40 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Intact abdominal aortic aneurysm 30 mm or larger in men and women irrespective of underlying pathogenesis (atherosclerotic, mycotic, previous dissection).

Exclusion Criteria:

• Previous aortic surgery or surgical treatment for AAA

• Ruptured AAA at index contact

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm
• Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Without Rupture
• Aneurysm
• Aneurysm Abdominal
• Aortic Aneurysm
• Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal
• Rupture

Intervention

Procedure:
• Elective surgery for intact AAA
Elective surgery including the following modalities: open repair, endovascular repair (EVAR), fenestrated end-vascular repair (FEVAR).

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Sweden	Karolinska University Hospital	Stockholm

Sponsors (3)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Karolinska University Hospital	Medical University of Graz, St. Olavs Hospital

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Sweden, 

References & Publications (17)

Aber A, Tong TS, Chilcott J, Thokala P, Maheswaran R, Thomas SM, Nawaz S, Walters S, Michaels J. Sex differences in national rates of repair of emergency abdominal aortic aneurysm. Br J Surg. 2019 Jan;106(1):82-89. doi: 10.1002/bjs.11006. Epub 2018 Nov 5. — View Citation

Brown LC, Powell JT. Risk factors for aneurysm rupture in patients kept under ultrasound surveillance. UK Small Aneurysm Trial Participants. Ann Surg. 1999 Sep;230(3):289-96; discussion 296-7. doi: 10.1097/00000658-199909000-00002. — View Citation

Chaikof EL, Dalman RL, Eskandari MK, Jackson BM, Lee WA, Mansour MA, Mastracci TM, Mell M, Murad MH, Nguyen LL, Oderich GS, Patel MS, Schermerhorn ML, Starnes BW. The Society for Vascular Surgery practice guidelines on the care of patients with an abdominal aortic aneurysm. J Vasc Surg. 2018 Jan;67(1):2-77.e2. doi: 10.1016/j.jvs.2017.10.044. — View Citation

Dueck AD, Johnston KW, Alter D, Laupacis A, Kucey DS. Predictors of repair and effect of gender on treatment of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. J Vasc Surg. 2004 Apr;39(4):784-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jvs.2003.10.064. — View Citation

Karthikesalingam A, Nicoli TK, Holt PJ, Hinchliffe RJ, Pasha N, Loftus IM, Thompson MM. The fate of patients referred to a specialist vascular unit with large infra-renal abdominal aortic aneurysms over a two-year period. Eur J Vasc Endovasc Surg. 2011 Sep;42(3):295-301. doi: 10.1016/j.ejvs.2011.04.022. Epub 2011 May 14. — View Citation

Katz DJ, Stanley JC, Zelenock GB. Gender differences in abdominal aortic aneurysm prevalence, treatment, and outcome. J Vasc Surg. 1997 Mar;25(3):561-8. doi: 10.1016/s0741-5214(97)70268-4. — View Citation

Kuhnl A, Erk A, Trenner M, Salvermoser M, Schmid V, Eckstein HH. Incidence, Treatment and Mortality in Patients with Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms. Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2017 Jun 5;114(22-23):391-398. doi: 10.3238/arztebl.2017.0391. — View Citation

Lederle FA, Johnson GR, Wilson SE; Aneurysm Detection and Management Veterans Affairs Cooperative Study. Abdominal aortic aneurysm in women. J Vasc Surg. 2001 Jul;34(1):122-6. doi: 10.1067/mva.2001.115275. — View Citation

McPhee JT, Hill JS, Eslami MH. The impact of gender on presentation, therapy, and mortality of abdominal aortic aneurysm in the United States, 2001-2004. J Vasc Surg. 2007 May;45(5):891-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jvs.2007.01.043. Epub 2007 Mar 28. — View Citation

Sakalihasan N, Michel JB, Katsargyris A, Kuivaniemi H, Defraigne JO, Nchimi A, Powell JT, Yoshimura K, Hultgren R. Abdominal aortic aneurysms. Nat Rev Dis Primers. 2018 Oct 18;4(1):34. doi: 10.1038/s41572-018-0030-7. — View Citation

Scott RA, Bridgewater SG, Ashton HA. Randomized clinical trial of screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm in women. Br J Surg. 2002 Mar;89(3):283-5. doi: 10.1046/j.0007-1323.2001.02014.x. — View Citation

Scott SW, Batchelder AJ, Kirkbride D, Naylor AR, Thompson JP. Late Survival in Nonoperated Patients with Infrarenal Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm. Eur J Vasc Endovasc Surg. 2016 Oct;52(4):444-449. doi: 10.1016/j.ejvs.2016.05.008. Epub 2016 Jun 30. — View Citation

Sweeting MJ, Masconi KL, Jones E, Ulug P, Glover MJ, Michaels JA, Bown MJ, Powell JT, Thompson SG. Analysis of clinical benefit, harms, and cost-effectiveness of screening women for abdominal aortic aneurysm. Lancet. 2018 Aug 11;392(10146):487-495. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(18)31222-4. Epub 2018 Jul 26. — View Citation

Sweeting MJ, Thompson SG, Brown LC, Powell JT; RESCAN collaborators. Meta-analysis of individual patient data to examine factors affecting growth and rupture of small abdominal aortic aneurysms. Br J Surg. 2012 May;99(5):655-65. doi: 10.1002/bjs.8707. Epub 2012 Mar 5. — View Citation

Wanhainen A, Verzini F, Van Herzeele I, Allaire E, Bown M, Cohnert T, Dick F, van Herwaarden J, Karkos C, Koelemay M, Kolbel T, Loftus I, Mani K, Melissano G, Powell J, Szeberin Z, Esvs Guidelines Committee, de Borst GJ, Chakfe N, Debus S, Hinchliffe R, Kakkos S, Koncar I, Kolh P, Lindholt JS, de Vega M, Vermassen F, Document Reviewers, Bjorck M, Cheng S, Dalman R, Davidovic L, Donas K, Earnshaw J, Eckstein HH, Golledge J, Haulon S, Mastracci T, Naylor R, Ricco JB, Verhagen H. Editor's Choice - European Society for Vascular Surgery (ESVS) 2019 Clinical Practice Guidelines on the Management of Abdominal Aorto-iliac Artery Aneurysms. Eur J Vasc Endovasc Surg. 2019 Jan;57(1):8-93. doi: 10.1016/j.ejvs.2018.09.020. Epub 2018 Dec 5. No abstract available. Erratum In: Eur J Vasc Endovasc Surg. 2020 Mar;59(3):494. — View Citation

Whittaker JD, Meecham L, Summerour V, Khalil S, Layton G, Yousif M, Jennings A, Wall M, Newman J. Outcome after Turndown for Elective Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Surgery. Eur J Vasc Endovasc Surg. 2017 Nov;54(5):579-586. doi: 10.1016/j.ejvs.2017.07.023. Epub 2017 Sep 2. — View Citation

Zommorodi S, Bottai M, Hultgren R. Sex differences in repair rates and outcomes of patients with ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. Br J Surg. 2019 Oct;106(11):1480-1487. doi: 10.1002/bjs.11258. Epub 2019 Aug 12. — View Citation

* Note: There are 17 references in all — Click here to view all references

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Final Elective Treatment Status	Relative frequency of women and men that were electively treated or left untreated, the latter group subcategorized into patients who did or did not reach the diameter threshold for surgical treatment (50 mm women, 55 men).	End of follow-up in December 2021 with maximal possible follow-up of seven years.
Primary	Sex-Specific Reasons for Remaining Untreated	Frequency distribution of underlying reasons behind non-treatment among those men and women who reached the treatment threshold. Primary reason registered as patient- (comorbidity, patient's wish) or AAA-related (morphology).	Evaluated at the time of the conservative treatment decision during maximal follow-up of seven years.
Secondary	Rupture Rate	Sex-specific rates of rupture in each treatment arm during follow-up.	Study end December 2021.
Secondary	Mortality Rate	Sex-specific rates of mortality in each treatment arm during follow-up.	Study end December 2021.