(1) Low estradiol concentrations are not significantly linked to higher risk of abdominal aortic aneurysm in women. Smoking, hypertension and coronary heart disease are far more important risk factors. Women who used postmenopausal hormone therapy had a hazard ratio of 0.58 for abdominal aortic aneurysm, but this risk reduction was not statistically significant.

The study uses data from the second HUNT study. 201 of the 20,000 included postmenopausal women were identified with abdominal aortic aneurysms during the 18-year follow-up period.

(2) Persons with depressive symptoms have increased risk of abdominal aortic aneurysm, independent of other risk factors. The study includes almost 60,000 HUNT participants aged 50 years or older. 742 of them had a verified abdominal aortic aneurysm during the median follow-up of 13 years. After adjusting for age, smoking, overweight, history of coronary heart disease, diabetes and hypertension, a high degree of depressive symptoms were associated with 32% increased risk.

(3) Aortic diameter divided by body surface area − aortic size index − does not predict risk of abdominal aortic aneurysms better than aortic diameter alone. Both measurements were significant predictors, with aortic diameter being the superior one.

In the Tromsø Study, 4161 men and women had their aortic diameter assessed by ultrasound in both 1994 and 2001 and were included in this study. 124 of them were diagnosed with incident abdominal aortic aneurysm at the second survey.