An AAA is a disease of atherosclerotic base that consists in the permanent and progressive increase of the diameter of the infrarenal aorta, usually more than 3 cm in diameter or 50% of its aortic diameter, between the renal artery and the iliac bifurcation. The growth of the diameter of the aneurysm is related to degeneration of the arterial wall and to hemodynamic factors, which associate risk of rupture, a catastrophic complication that causes death in the patient.

Currently, both the prevalence and incidence of AAA are worrying, justifying any effort to predict its breakdown.

The main clinical criteria currently used to decide treatment for AAA patients are maximum transverse diameter and growth rate. Information to determine these criteria is obtained quickly and accurately from abdominal echo-doppler scans and/or computed tomography (CT) scanners, which patients undergo on a regular basis.

The main limitation of this approach is that the maximum transverse diameter of the aneurysm is not a reliable determinant of the risk of rupture as other patient-specific factors are not considered. It has been shown through several clinical studies that between 12 and 24% of small aneurysms break. So, any effort to reduce these data are currently a challenge.