Screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm: Headline is misleading

doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7491.601

BMJ 2005;330:601 (12 March), doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7491.601

Letter

Screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm

Headline is misleading

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—The front cover of the BMJ of 27 November declaredthat screening for aortic aneurysm does not reduce overall deathrates. This headline misrepresents the conclusions of the studyitself,¹ let alone evidence from the UK multicentre aneurysmscreening study of 68 000 men, which showed that screening halvesaneurysm related deaths by reducing risk of rupture.²

The Australian trial studied 41 000 men aged 65-83, and theauthors admit their target group was not suitable.¹ Half themen over 75 invited for screening did not attend and accountedfor two thirds of deaths from aneurysm. Among those aged 65-74,not one patient died of aneurysm disease in 8641 men attendingscreening, compared with 11 deaths in non-attendees and 13 deathsin controls. The authors concluded that the chief reasons fortheir overall result seemed to have been their failure to identifyand exclude men who were unlikely . . . [Full text of this article]

Peter Lamont, honorary secretary

Vascular Society at the Royal College of Surgeons, London WC2A 3PE Peter.Lamont@ubht.swest.nhs.uk

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