Aneurysm screening for men to roll out in Cork

A simple screening programme that has detected 11,000 potentially fatal aneurysms in men in the UK is being rolled out across five GP practices in Cork.

The screening, by ultrasound, can pick up abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA), a dangerous swelling of the aorta, the main vessel that runs from the heart down through the abdomen to the rest of the body.

If it ruptures, up to three in 10 men affected die before reaching hospital and another 60% make it to hospital, but die within a month, according to Diarmuid Quinlan, of Woodview Family Doctors, in Glanmire.