Objective: To analyse the epidemiology and trends of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) in an ethnic Chinese population over a 21-year period in a representative referral institution in Hong Kong.
Methods: Over a 21-year period from 1975 to 1995, 533 patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms were treated in a single Vascular Surgical Unit at the Department of Surgery, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong. Their characteristics, treatment and mortality were reviewed.
Results: There was an increase in the incidence from a mean annual admission of 10 cases per year during 1975-1980, to that of 38 per year during 1991-1995. The increase was largely detected in males, the male to female ratio being 2.5:1 in the 1980s and 3.6:1 in the 1990s. There was no parallel increase in the incidence of ruptured aneurysms which accounted for 12.6% of all aneurysm admissions.
Conclusion: There is a progressive increase in the incidence of AAA in Chinese patients, in a time frame and pattern similar to that reported in the West.