Increased aortic repair in Germany correlates with reduction of death caused by aortic aneurysms but not aortic dissections

Abstract

Introduction We asked if there is a significant correlation between the increasing trend in aortic repair (AR) and decreasing aortic aneurysm (AA) and aortic dissection (AD) mortality? Therefore, we retrospectively analyzed all aortic repairs in patients with AA and AD and its correlation with disease-specific death rates and hospitalizations for ruptured AA and AD in Germany. Methods We retrieved the number of cases hospitalized for AA and AD as well as the procedures in these cases from the Federal Bureau of Statistics (DRG statistics) and death rates from the national mortality statistic published by the Federal Statistical Office in Germany for the years 2006–2017. Results From 2006 to 2017, the total number of hospitalized cases admitted with principal diagnosis of AA increased by 25.8% and that of AD by 56.7%. That of cases with the principal diagnosis of ruptured AA (rAA) remained unchanged (−2.5%) and that with rAD increased by 54.6%. The number of (open and endovascular) procedures in cases hospitalized for AA increased by 39.4% and for AD by 126.4%. The age-adjusted death rates in Germany for AA decreased from 4.0 to 2.9 per 100,000 inhabitants and that for AD increased from 1.0 to 1.4. The decrease in death attributed to AA cases can be described by linear regression as y = −0.0003*y + 6.7076 ( p < 0.0001). Accepting this association between increased elective procedures and reduced AA mortality, each/all 1000 procedures save 0.3 lives per 100,000 inhabitants. Conclusion Despite increasing numbers of AR for AA and AD, only the mortality rate for all AAs decreased, while we did not observe a decrease in overall mortality of AD in Germany.