Purpose: To investigate the familial incidence and phenotypic characteristics of patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) in the Otago region of New Zealand.
Methodology: A retrospective audit based pilot study and a prospective study of patients having abdominal aortic aneurysm repair from September 1988 to September 1999 was performed.
Results: 248 probands were enrolled, of which 19.4% had one or more first degree relative affected. The age at diagnosis of the familial (70.2) and non-familial (70.5) patients was similar. The proportion of females was increased in the familial subgroup. Hypercholesterolaemia was the only phenotypic feature to differentiate familial from non-familial patients and was associated with an earlier age of presentation. In the familial families, brothers were the most common relative affected and 77% of the families had two patients with AAA.
Conclusion: 19.4% of patients operated on in the Otago area for AAA had a familial component to their aneurysm.