Aorta Replacement Surgery In a Rural County Hospital

To the Editor.—  The Boone County Hospital in Harrison, in northwest Arkansas, is a 130-bed general hospital that serves primarily a rural area with a population of approximately 60,000.Treatment of aortic disease in a rural Arkansas hospital during the past decade is presented with an evaluation of surgical treatment of the abdominal aorta.Data presented support the premise that effective surgical treatment is available even in the rural areas of our country.During the decade 1961 to 1970, 36 patients were hospitalized with a diagnosis of aneurysm, occlusion, or tumor of the abdominal aorta. Of these, 21 were treated by replacement of the infrarenal abdominal aorta with either a Dacron prosthesis or by endarterectomy.We think that our data are particularly pertinent at this time. The public and administrative clamor for good medicine for all our citizenry has often denigrated the quality of medical services in rural areas. Our