Risk of abdominal aortic aneurysm rupture also increased
THURSDAY, Feb. 11, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Asthma is associated with increased risk of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) and rupture, according to research published online Feb. 11 in Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology.
Cong-Lin Liu, Ph.D., of Zhengzhou University in China, and colleagues analyzed data from the Danish National Registry of Patients, a population-based, nationwide case-control study that included all patients with ruptured AAA and age- and sex-matched AAA controls without rupture in Denmark from 1996 to 2012, and a subgroup study of participants from the population-based, randomized Viborg vascular screening trial. The association between asthma, or reversible obstructive airway disease, and AAA was assessed.
The researchers found that in the Danish National Registry of Patients study, asthma diagnosed less than one year, or six months, before the index date was associated with increased risk of AAA rupture both before (odds ratio [OR], 1.60 to 2.12) and after (OR, 1.51 to 2.06) adjustment for AAA comorbidities. Use of bronchodilators and prescription of anti-asthma drugs also were associated with increased risk of AAA rupture. In the Viborg vascular trial, anti-asthma medication use was associated with increased risk of AAA before (OR, 1.45) or after adjustment for smoking (OR, 1.45) or other risk factors (OR, 1.46).
“Recent active asthma increased risk of AAA and ruptured AAA,” the authors write. “These findings document and furnish novel links between airway disease and AAA, two common diseases that share inflammatory aspects.”
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