The patient is often being examined for an unrelated reason. In other patients who experience symptoms and seek medical attention, a physician may be able to feel a pulsating aorta or hear abnormal sounds in the abdomen with the stethoscope.
Abdominal aortic aneurysms are often found during an examination for another reason. For example, during a routine exam, your doctor may feel a pulsating bulge in your abdomen, though it's unlikely your doctor will be able to hear signs of an aneurysm through a stethoscope.
A rapidly growing aneurysm that is about to rupture can be tender and very painful when pressed. A doctor may also hear rushing blood flow when listening to your abdomen with a stethoscope. Aortic aneurysm can be diagnosed through: Ultrasound.
With a stethoscope placed on the middle of the abdomen, doctors may hear a whooshing sound (bruit) caused by turbulence as blood rushes past the aneurysm. However, in obese people, even large aneurysms may not be detected.
Diagnosing an Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm
Doctors usually find abdominal aortic aneurysms during a physical examination or on an X-ray. To understand more about the aneurysm, your doctor will examine your abdomen and feel the pulses in your legs.
An abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) usually causes no symptoms. Therefore, they tend to be diagnosed as a result of screening, or during a routine physical examination when a GP notices a distinctive pulsating sensation in your abdomen. A diagnosis can be confirmed using an ultrasound scan.
Abdominal ultrasound.
This is the most common test to diagnose abdominal aortic aneurysms. Sound waves are used to show how blood flows through the structures in the belly area, including the aorta.
Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm
Sometimes mistaken for a heart attack, an abdominal aortic rupture can be characterized by chest and jaw pain, stabbing abdominal or back pain, fainting, difficulty breathing, and weakness on one side of the body.
Angiosarcoma may mimic an infected aneurysm or a mural thrombus. Clinical suspicion of angiosarcoma is vital for an early diagnosis and proper surgical treatment, especially in cases with atypical rapid growth of an aortic abdominal aneurysm with a thrombotic mass.
A diagnosis of AAA generally requires imaging confirmation that an aneurysm is present, which is most often accomplished using abdominal ultrasound.
The most common symptom is general belly pain or discomfort, which may come and go or be constant. Other symptoms may include: Pain in the chest, belly (abdomen), lower back, or flank (over the kidneys). It may spread to the groin, buttocks, or legs.
To auscultate the aorta, place the stethoscope between the xiphoid (epigastrium) and the umbilicus about two-thirds of the way down.
For example, an abdominal aneurysm often feels like a throbbing lump under the skin and the patient or an examining doctor may discover the pulsating mass. Even if the lump cannot be felt, the doctor can often hear suspicious sounds of turbulent blood flow through a stethoscope on the abdomen.
A Simple Blood Test, Such as Complete Blood Count, Can Predict Calcification Grade of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm.
A Bruits in Healthy Persons
Abdominal bruits are more common in those younger than 40 years of age than in older persons. Characteristically, the abdominal bruit of a healthy individual is systolic, medium-pitched to low-pitched, and audible between the xiphoid process and the umbilicus.
The USPSTF recommends 1-time screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) with ultrasonography in men aged 65 to 75 years who have ever smoked.
A pseudoaneurysm occurs when a blood vessel wall is injured. Blood leaking from the vessel collects in surrounding tissue. It is sometimes called a false aneurysm. It may also be called pseudoaneurysm of the vessels. In a true aneurysm, the vessel wall weakens and bulges.
Aneurysms can develop slowly over many years, often with no symptoms. Symptoms may come on quickly if the aneurysm expands rapidly, tears open or leaks blood within the wall of the vessel (aortic dissection). Symptoms of rupture include: Pain in the abdomen or back.
Abdominal ultrasound and computed tomography
In about 1% to 3% of the time, the aorta cannot be visualized because of bowel gas or obesity (58–60). In general, ultrasound is an ideal test for mass screening (61). However, ultrasound is imprecise in measuring aneurysm size (62–65).
1) Chest tenderness or chest pain, dizziness or light-headedness, back pain, coughing up blood (hemoptysis) and loss of consciousness due to the ruptures. 2) Sudden or intense abdominal pain, pulsating enlargement or tender mass in an abdomen caused by a bulge of aortic wall in the abdominal areas.
While most patients present without any symptoms, some patients can have somewhat ambiguous symptoms along with their abdominal aortic aneurysm. These symptoms of aortic aneurysms include abdominal pain, hardening of the abdomen, and pulsing in the abdomen.
To confirm the presence of an abdominal aortic aneurysm, a physician may order imaging tests including: Abdominal Ultrasound (US): Ultrasound is a highly accurate way to measure the size of an aneurysm. A physician may also use a special technique called Doppler ultrasound to examine blood flow through the aorta.
An aneurysm may be found by X-ray, computed tomography (CT or CAT) scan, or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that was done for other reasons. Since abdominal aneurysm may not have symptoms, it's called the "silent killer" because it may rupture before being diagnosed.
An abdominal aortic aneurysm is caused by a weakness in the wall of the aorta. The number one risk factor for this medical issue is smoking. Smokers die four times more often from a ruptured aneurysm than non-smokers. Men are more likely to have an abdominal aortic aneurysm than women.