Aneurysms Nursing Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Aneurysms Nursing - Case Study Example Not all aneurysms are live threatening but when the vessel is over enlarged it may burst causing massive internal bleeding (â€Å"Aneurysms and dissection†, 2011).In normal situations, arteries are capable of withstanding normal blood pressure due to their thick walls. Dissection occurs when a split occurs in either one or more layers of the walls of artery. This splitting causes bleeding along and into layers of the artery wall (â€Å"What is aneurysm†, n.d). Incidence, mortality and morbidity Aneurysms affect 1 in every 20 people in most societies and are therefore a global health problem. It is approximated that about 30,000 people suffer from aneurysms in each year in USA (Khurana, and Spetzler, 2006) with abdominal aortic causing about 9000 deaths yearly. Most of abdominal aneurysms occur in 5th, 6th and 7th decades of life (Debakey, Crawford, Garrett, Beall, and Howell, 1965 ; Mastracci and Eagleton, 2011) .The 9000 deaths are inclusive of 1400-2800 deaths which o ccurs due to elective operation in an effort to prevent bursting (Lederle et al., 2002). Aneurysms rupture causes approximated mortalities of 80-90% and most of the patients die before they are hospitalised.These deaths are inclusive of pre, intra and post operative cases (Russo, 2006).For aortic aneurysms, it has been estimated that 13,000 Americans die annually and most of these deaths occur due to dissections or bursting of arteries (â€Å"What is aneurysm†, n.d).On the other hand, abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) are the 14th leading killer in USA (Russo, 2006). Risk factors and causes of aneurysms Any condition which leads to weakening of arteries walls predisposes a person to aneurysm. Other risk factors are smoking ,inborn abnormalities of connective tissue such as Ehler Donlos syndromes, congenital bicuspid valve abnormalities (Montgomery, Henderson, Ostrowsky, Karimmi and Hennein, 2010), high blood pressure, atherosclerosis which is characterized by building up of fa tty plagues in the arteries, deep wounds, injuries, infections occurring in blood vessels, inherited diseases such as Malfan syndrome (a health condition which affects body’s connective tissue) which causes people to have very flexible joints and long bones (â€Å"Aneurysms and dissections†, 2011).Pregnancy has also been linked with the formation and bursting of aneurysms of the splenic artery which leads to the spleen (Reed et al, 1992). Aneurysms can also occur due to defective genes which play a critical role in maintaining the integrity of arterial wall which offers strength and elasticity to arteries. It has been thought that disruption of extracellar matrix of arterial wall plays a critical role in pathogenesis of aneurysms such as intracranial aneurysms (Kuivaniemi,Troup and Prockop, 1991).For those patients with intracranial aneurysms it has been observed that they have decreased level of arterial structural proteins (Kuivaniemi et al, 1991). People with defect ive genes have been shown to have abnormal aortic matrix proteins, insufficient inhibition of proteolysis or overactive proteolysis, lack of elastin and abnormal production of type 111collagen which is a structural component of aorta wall (Reed et al, 1992). Patients who have autosomal dominant polystic kidney disease (ADPKD) have also been shown to have risks of developing aneurysms. In addition to this, infective endocarditis and Aspergillosis, syphilis infection, trauma and cocaine use has also been