Management of Hyperlipidemia in Patients With Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm
Authors: Frank A. Lederle
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2009)

Letters3 November 2009Management of Hyperlipidemia in Patients With Abdominal Aortic AneurysmFrank A. Lederle, MDFrank A. Lederle, MDFrom Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Minneapolis, MN 55417.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-151-9-200911030-00015 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail IN RESPONSE:I thank Dr. Sethi for pointing out this omission, because the recommendation merits discussion. Treatment of patients with occlusive vascular disease with statins is based on convincing data from randomized trials. No such data are available to support lipid lowering in patients with AAA without known occlusive disease. The ATP III classified AAA as a “clinical form of non-coronary atherosclerosis” (1). Few AAA investigators would agree with this, because a large body of evidence (2) increasingly suggests a distinct genetic and immune cause, most clearly differentiated from atherosclerosis by the negative association of AAA with diabetes.The only ...References1. Grundy SM, Cleeman JI, Merz CN, Brewer HB, Clark LT, Hunninghake DB, et al; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Implications of recent clinical trials for the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III guidelines. Circulation. 2004;110:227-39. [PMID: 15249516] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar2. Kuivaniemi H, Platsoucas CD, Tilson MD. Aortic aneurysms: an immune disease with a strong genetic component. Circulation. 2008;117:242-52. [PMID: 18195185] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Hertzer NR. Fatal myocardial infarction following abdominal aortic aneurysm resection. Three hundred forty-three patients followed 6–11 years postoperatively. Ann Surg. 1980;192:667-73. [PMID: 7436594] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. Lederle FA, Johnson GR, Wilson SE, Chute EP, Hye RJ, Makaroun MS, et al. The aneurysm detection and management study screening program: validation cohort and final results. Aneurysm Detection and Management Veterans Affairs Cooperative Study Investigators. Arch Intern Med. 2000;160:1425-30. [PMID: 10826454] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. Barr RG, Celli BR, Mannino DM, Petty T, Rennard SI, Sciurba FC, et al. Comorbidities, patient knowledge, and disease management in a national sample of patients with COPD. Am J Med. 2009;122:348-55. [PMID: 19332230] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar6. Schouten O, van Laanen JH, Boersma E, Vidakovic R, Feringa HH, Dunkelgrün M, et al. Statins are associated with a reduced infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm growth. Eur J Vasc Endovasc Surg. 2006;32:21-6. [PMID: 16520071] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: From Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Minneapolis, MN 55417.Disclosures: None disclosed. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoAbdominal Aortic Aneurysm Frank A. Lederle Management of Hyperlipidemia in Patients With Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Ankur Sethi Metrics 3 November 2009Volume 151, Issue 9Page: 670KeywordsAtherosclerosisLipidsMyocardial infarctionObservational studiesPatientsStatinsVascular diseases ePublished: 3 November 2009 Issue Published: 3 November 2009 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2009 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...