Assess Abdominal Aortic Diameter in Females

Overview

Female subjects aged 50 years or older will be enrolled. Biometric data (measurements) of the aorta and iliac vessels, demographic data, pathophysiological history, and data relating to menarche, pregnancy/infertility, and menopause will be collected. The aortic diameter measurement protocol will follow standard clinical practice. Measurements will be performed by placing the probe on an axis perpendicular to the aortic axis, manually positioning the calipers in the antero-posterior and lateral-lateral directions, recording both the outer-to-outer (OTO) and inner-to-inner (ITI) diameters. Additionally, the presence of thrombus and/or calcifications and the outer-to-outer (OTO) measurement of the common iliac arteries will be detected. Primary objective: Definition of the ultrasound diameter of the abdominal aorta in the female population. Secondary objective: Identification of any sex-specific risk factors associated with abdominal aortic disease (aneurysm) in the female population. Secondary objective: Identification of any sex-specific risk factors associated with abdominal aortic disease (atherosclerosis) in the female population.

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among women in the Western world, although until a few decades ago they were considered a male prerogative. Indeed, most studies have been conducted on middle-aged Caucasian men, despite women representing more than 50% of the world's population. Clinical trials dedicated to women have long focused almost exclusively on breast and gynecological conditions, and only in recent years has medicine increasingly developed the concept of gender, seeking to draw attention to the differences in prevalence, treatment, and outcomes of conditions common to both sexes. Regarding aortic disease, the literature is still in its infancy, and the guidelines highlight the need for greater understanding of gender. To date, for example, it is known that for abdominal aortic aneurysms, annual aneurysm growth is equal in both genders. However, when a diameter of 5.5 cm is reached, which is the threshold for surgical treatment, women have a four-fold higher risk of rupture than men. This finding, directly related to biometric data for women, for which the epidemiological values are not yet known, could provide a key to understanding this increased risk. Furthermore, increasingly evident in the literature is the relationship between cardiovascular disease and hormonal status, whose cycles vary at different stages of life. Estrogen is known to have a protective role for the cardiovascular system, and a reduction, or early loss, of this hormonal protection could be associated with an increased incidence of the disease. Our study therefore aims to analyze and highlight the biometric differences of the abdominal aorta in relation to gender and its specific characteristics.