Hybrid decision support system for endovascular aortic aneurysm repair follow-up

An Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm is an abnormal widening of the aortic vessel at abdominal level, and is usually diagnosed on the basis of radiological images. One of the techniques for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm repair is Endovascular Repair. The long-term outcome of this surgery is usually difficult to predict in the absence of clearly visible signs, such as leaks, in the images. In this paper, we present a hybrid system that combines data extracted from radiological images and data extracted from the Electronic Patient Record in order to assess the evolution of the aneurysm after the intervention. The results show that the system proposed by this approach yields valuable qualitative and quantitative information for follow-up of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm patients after Endovascular Repair. © 2010 Springer-Verlag.