Profile of patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm referred to the Vascular Unit, Hospital Kuala Lumpur

A prospective collection of patients referred with a diagnosis of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) to the Vascular Unit, Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) between February 1993 to July 1995 were analysed. There were a total of 124 patients, with a 85 per cent (%) male preponderance. Malays formed the largest ethnic group contributing about 60%. The median age of the patients was 69 years (range 49-84). Emergency referrals and admission accounted for 46.8% of patients. Hypertension and ischaemic heart disease were the two most common co-morbid medical conditions. The number of patients who underwent surgery was only 56 (45.2%). Of this total, 34 were done electively with an operative mortality of 8.8% (3 pts). The operative mortality for emergency surgery was 59.1%. AAA is relatively common in the older age group, especially in men and it should be actively looked for, as elective surgery can be offered with acceptable morbidity and mortality.