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Aneurysm screening is saving lives

A SCREENING programme which aims to reduce deaths across the north from abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) by detecting and treating them early has reported a high level of uptake, with more than four out of five men invited for the scan having it done.

The Northern Ireland AAA Screening Programme invites all men during the year they turn 65 for a quick and simple ultrasound scan to detect the condition.

Men are six times more likely to have an AAA than women and the chances of having one increase with age. Each year 80 to100 people in Northern Ireland die from a ruptured AAA. Most people will be unaware that they have an aneurysm as they rarely have symptoms but an aneurysm is often life-threatening if it ruptures. Raymond Conroy, a retired 65-year-old from Enniskillen, is one of those who is glad he went for the scan. Raymond had no worries about his health when he received the letter from the AAA screening programme inviting him to go along for the scan. "I received the letter to attend the screening at my local hospital. I didn't really know what an aortic aneurysm was or that I could possibly have one but I thought 'Why not?'" he says An AAA is a swelling of the main artery in the body as it passes through the abdomen (belly), but while it usually causes no symptoms until it ruptures, this often results in death.

The scan detected that Raymond had a small aortic aneurysm. As most AAAs grow very slowly, men with a small or medium AAA may never develop a large AAA but will be monitored to see if it grows. "At this stage I only need to be monitored," Raymond says. "Approximately one in every 40 men aged 65 will have an abdominal aortic aneurysm and don't know they have it. However, AAAs are easy to detect by screening, which reduces deaths from the disease," Dr Adrian Mairs, consultant in Public Health Medicine at the PHA says. "With this in mind we introduced the Northern Ireland AAA Screening Programme and we have just published its first annual report highlighting the programme success in 2012-2013 with 81 per cent of the men invited attending for a scan. "The report shows the programme is working well and providing a high quality service for men. "From when the programme began in June 2012 until the end of March 2013, a total of 5,581 men were screened and 74 AAAs were detected."

Men are invited to attend in the year they turn 65; older men can phone the screening office and request an appointment on 028 9063 1828.