A Simple Blood Test, Such as Complete Blood Count, Can Predict Calcification Grade of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm

OBJECTIVE The pathogenesis of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is complex and different factors, including calcification, are linked to increased complications. This study was conducted in order to verify if classical risk factors for AAA and cell blood count parameter could help in the identification of calcification progression of the aneurysm. DESIGN Risk factors were collected and cell blood count was performed in patients with AAA and patients were analyzed for the presence of aorta calcification using CT angiography. RESULTS We found no association of calcification grade with risk factors for AAA but we found a strong association between MCV, MCH, and calcification grade. Instead, no association was found with the other parameter that we analyzed. CONCLUSIONS In this study, we demonstrate that biomarkers such as MCV and MCH could have potential important information about AAA calcification progression and could be useful to discriminate between those patients that should undergo a rapid imaging, thus allowing prompt initiation of treatment of suspicious patients that do not need imaging repetition.