Debate: Whether evidence supports reducing the threshold diameter to 5 cm for elective interventions in women with abdominal aortic aneurysms.

Current practice guidelines recommend repair of asymptomatic abdominal aortic aneurysms once they reach the 5.5-cm-diameter threshold and are based on information from randomized controlled trials. However, because aneurysms are more common in men, women are under-represented in these trials, and questions persist about whether this repair threshold should apply to them. In addition, women have smaller aortas to begin with and in most aneurysm cohorts are older, have more atherosclerotic risk factors, are less likely to be anatomic candidates for endovascular repair, and do poorer after emergency or elective repair of their aneurysm. These are just some of the issues that our discussants address in determining whether the repair threshold should be at a smaller diameter for women.