Pathogenesis of abdominal aortic aneurysms: A multidisciplinary research program supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

cert with several related NHLBI research programs, theyaddress the etiology, pathophysiology, and clinical pro-gression of AAAs with an assortment of scientificapproaches and experimental strategies (Table). TheNHLBI held a meeting of Principal Investigators inBethesda, Md, on April 10 and 11, 2000, to establish con-sensus on current research needs, identify additionalavenues for collaboration between individuals working indiverse fields, and maximize the overall impact of theaneurysm research program. The purpose of this report isto summarize the information and perspectives discussedat that meeting for the wider community of vascular sur-geons, biologists, and basic scientists, according to fourbroad areas of research: (1) proteolytic degradation of aor-tic wall connective tissue, (2) inflammation and immuneresponses, (3) biomechanical wall stress, and (4) molecu-lar genetics.