Abdominal aortic aneurysm and the impact of infectious burden.

Abstract

Little is known about the biological processes causing aortic aneurysm rupture. Chronic Chlamydophila pneumoniae infection has been suggested as a possible contributing factor to the development and expansion of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). The importance of infection in AAA may be related to the previous pathogen burden, that is, the number of significant titres of antibodies against infectious pathogens rather than to single infectious agents. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between infectious burden and AAA rupture. In a case-control study, 119 patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm and 36 matched controls without aneurysm were prospectively investigated for specific IgG class antibodies against C. pneumoniae, Helicobacter pylori, Cytomegalovirus, and Herpes simplex virus. Patients with ruptured AAA have similar levels of pathogen burden as patients with nonruptured electively operated AAA, small AAA, and controls without aneurysm. The present study fails to demonstrate a connection between infectious burden and abdominal aortic aneurysm rupture.