Presence of Renal Simple Cysts Is Associated With Increased Risk of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms

We compared the incidence of renal simple cysts in 271 patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) and 1387 patients without AAA (controls) using computed tomography (CT) angiography and abdominal CT, as a health screening program. The AAA group had significantly higher prevalence of renal simple cysts (55% vs 19%, P = .001) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD; 12% vs 1%, P = .011) than the controls. After propensity score matching (n = 164), the prevalence of renal simple cysts was still significantly higher in the AAA group. In multivariate analysis, independent predictors of AAA were age, male gender, smoking history, hypertension, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, creatinine, COPD, and renal simple cysts. The structural weakness predisposing for renal simple cysts may be associated with the initiation of AAA formation. More studies are needed to determine whether the presence of renal simple cysts can be considered as a risk factor for AAA.