The accident in South Park last month in which a man died of a ruptured aortic abdominal aneurysm while driving and lost control of his car, killing his wife and three pedestrians, has heightened local awareness about the condition. Life Line Screening, a mobile vascular screening service that offers ultrasound testing for aneurysms, has been flooded with calls since the tragedy. But vascular specialists for years have been pushing for greater awareness among the public and primary care physicians about the growing prevalence of these potentially fatal aneurysms as more people have such risk factors as high blood pressure, hardening of the arteries and diabetes. Beatty oversees a national vascular screening program that for the first time in September will offer free tests or risk assessments at up to 600 sites across the country, including in Pittsburgh, to detect these aneurysms. An aneurysm is a thinned, weakened spot in the blood vessel wall that is ballooned out by the pressure of blood flow.
Most people die when the artery ruptures.
These aneurysms occur in 5 to 7 percent of people over age 60, but often carry no symptoms. West Penn has scheduled free screenings for the public on April 21 and April 28 as one way to raise awareness. There are no generally accepted recommendations about who in the general population should be screened, although there are risk factors. Blom said a person with a primary relative, such as a parent or sibling, with this condition has an 11-fold increased risk for developing aneurysms. People are saying high blood pressure causes the disease, some people say it's an inherited collagen defect or arterial defect.