Is there an urgent need to look for medicines (Drugs) to reduce the growth of aortic aneurysms and prevent their rupture?

The incidence of abdominal aortic aneurysm increases as the advances. As the life expectancy is increasing more number of people are going to face the cardiovascular problems towards the later part of their life. In Tromso study ¹ (Norway) an aneurysm (>29 mm) was present in 8.9% men and 2.2% women (p < 0.001) aged between 25-84 years of age. Aorta > 39 mm diameter was in 2.3% of men 0.4% of women aged between 25 to 84 years. The prevalence of abdominal aortic aneurysm increased with age. In India with one billion people, we can assume that at least 10 million people will be at risk of aortic aneurysm development. It is considered that operations for aortic aneurysms are major and they are associated with high risk even in the best hospitals. The recently introduced Endorepairs (very expensive) are less invasive and considered to be associated with less pain, shorter hospital stay. But one would still ask for some medicine which can avoid intervention or operation if the aneurysms are detected early enough. So, this question of medical therapies is more relevant to us in India. On theoretical grounds, multiple medications can suppress AAA formation and subsequent expansion, reducing the risk of rupture or the need for surgical correction. However, none have been conclusively shown to reverse the pathology in the aortic wall or to have a clinically beneficial effect on slowing AAA growth. Because of potential side effects, many of these drugs remain of experimental interest only.

        However, despite the paucity of good clinical information, it would appear that there is sufficient experimental and observational evidence to support using some of these medications. It would seem appropriate to control elevations in blood pressure with ACE inhibitors or ARBs. In patients who are normotensive, either ACE inhibitors or ARBs could still be used in low doses provided patients can tolerate these medications. Addition of vitamin E should not be harmful and can be beneficial. COX-2 inhibitors in patients with concomitant arthritis or pain syndromes can have an additive benefit by reducing aneurysm expansion. Doxycycline is an inexpensive medication with few side effects. Statins should be considered in all AAA patients irrespective of cholesterol levels because of their pleiotropic effects, which might not only reduce AAA expansion but also improve overall cardiovascular risk. They can also benefit operative outcomes in patients who ultimately come to elective or emergency surgery.

Probably we can also think in terms of some kind of vaccination to prevent the progressive changes in the aortic diameter. It should become a mandatory thing in all the people above 50 years of age without smoking, above 30 year of age in case of smokers just like the vaccinations in paediatrics. The understanding at the genetic and molecular level may help us to find out a way to revert the aneurysmal changes in the aorta or its branches. It is important to invest money in this direction while continuing to think and develop mechanical solutions for the biological problems such as smooth muscle cell apoptosis, elastin degradation, inflammatory cell infiltration, synthetic abnormalities of collagen in the wall of the aorta. The proposed cost of treating the cardiovascular disease and aneurysmal disease in our country with mechanical (repetitive) means (stents and devices) is beyond imagination of the common man. So, there should be adequate encouragement, planning and funding for the development of such programs in Hospitals, Medical universities and other Educational institutions which can prevent non communicable diseases (NCDs).

[1] Reference: K Singh, KH Bonna, BK Jacobsen  et al. Prevalence of and risk factors for abdominal aortic aneurysms in a population based study. Tromso study. Am J Epidemiol 2001; 154(3): 236-44