Curriculum · Screening (National/International)
Abdominal aortic aneurysm screening
What it is
Abdominal aortic aneurysm, AAA, is screened for once, and once only, with abdominal ultrasound. The group screened is men 65-75 who ever smoked. The same rule is written a second way as men 65-75 years of age who have any history of smoking. Three things mark the group at once: being a man, the age band, and any history of smoking. A man who has never smoked does not meet the rule. In the table of common screening programs the entry under who to screen reads just that: men 65-75 who ever smoked.
The test and the interval
The screening test is an abdominal ultrasound, and where the recommendation is written out in full it reads as abdominal aortic aneurysm screening with ultrasonography. Under frequency and key point the table holds a single entry, one-time screening, so a man in that group has the scan once and is not called back. The body behind the recommendation is the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, USPSTF.