Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Screening

Using the same machine as the one for echocardiograms, views of the aorta in the abdomen may be obtained. The aorta is the largest blood vessel in the body. It the highway that carries blood to all of the other arteries, and in certain instances it can become enlarged. Smokers are at particular risk for this problem, and if undetected can result in a rupture of this enlarged area (the aneurysm), which is almost always fatal. However, with appropriate screening, the aneurysm can be detected before rupture and surgery can successfully fix this problem.