Familial occurrence of abdominal aortic aneurysms

The occurrence of clinically diagnosed and ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) in the family was studied retrospectively among 200 consecutive patients with AAAs treated at the Surgical Clinic, University Hospital of Umeå, in the north of Sweden, during the period 1965 to 1981. A standardized questionnaire was sent to the 89 patients who were still alive when the study was performed, and 87 patients answered it. In 14 of these families there was one blood relative with AAA, and in two families there were two blood relatives with AAAs, apart from the proband. In nine cases AAAs occurred among the 468 brothers and sisters of the probands (1.9%), and in five cases among cousins. Seven of the 204 deceased brothers and sisters (3.4%) had died of ruptured AAAs. No questionnaires were sent to the families of the 111 deceased patients, but at least 11 of these patients had AAAs in the family. Pedigrees of the families with aggregation of aneurysms are presented, and fortuitous familial aggregation or predisposition to the development of AAAs is discussed.