Aorta

BACKGROUND: The use of ultrasound (US) to diagnose an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) has been well studied in the radiology literature, but has yet to be rigorously reviewed in the emergency medicine arena. OBJECTIVES: This was a systematic review of the literature for the operating characteristics of emergency department (ED) ultrasonography for AAA. METHODS: The authors searched PubMed and EMBASE databases for trials from 1965 through November 2011 using a search strategy derived from the following PICO formulation: Patients-patients (18+ years) suspected of AAA...

A short-cut review was carried out to establish whether emergency department ultrasound scanning had clinical utility for the diagnosis of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). A total of 73 papers were found using the reported searches, of which 4 presented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The author, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results and study weaknesses of these best papers are tabulated. It is concluded that in patients suspected of having AAA, emergency department bedside ultrasound scanning for AAA is sensitive and specific and may improve patient care...

This study assesses the accuracy of Emergency Medicine (EM) residents in detecting the size and presence of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) using EM ultrasound (EUS) compared to radiology measurement (RAD) by computed tomography (CT) scan, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), angiography, or operative findings. There were 238 aortic EUS performed from 1999-2000; 36 were positive for AAA. The EUS finding of "AAA" had a sensitivity of 0.94 (0.86-1.0 95% confidence interval [CI]) and specificity of 1 (0.98-1.0 95% CI)...

To assess agreement between emergency physicians' measurements of abdominal aortic diameter using ultrasound in the Emergency Department (ED) and measurements obtained by computed tomography (CT), a double-blinded, prospective study was conducted. The study enrolled a convenience sample of patients over 50 years of age presenting to the ED and scheduled to undergo CT scan of the abdomen and pelvis. Before CT scan, each patient received an ultrasound from a resident or attending emergency physician measuring anterior-posterior aortic diameter transversely at the approximate level of the superior mesenteric artery (SMA), longitudinally midway between the SMA and the iliac bifurcation, and transversely approximately 1 cm above the iliac bifurcation...

UNLABELLED: Determination of the presence of an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is essential in the management of the symptomatic emergency department (ED) patient. OBJECTIVES: To identify whether emergency ultrasound of the abdominal aorta (EUS-AA) by emergency physicians could accurately determine the presence of AAA and guide ED disposition. METHODS: This was a prospective, observational study at an urban ED with more than 100,000 annual patient visits with consecutive patients enrolled over a two-year period...

STUDY OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to determine whether emergency physicians with relatively limited training and experience can accurately identify the presence or absence of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) by performing bedside ultrasound scanning, and to assess the potential impact of ultrasound scanning on clinical management. METHODS: Patients in whom AAAs were suspected, including those patients older than 50 years presenting with abdominal/back pain of unclear origin or presumed renal colic, were eligible for study entry...