Well the failure is 4-5% and with increasing life expectancy she could have 60 years left (60*.05 = 3%). Now you’re talking about a possible 1% difference and

Well the failure is 4-5% and with increasing life expectancy she could have 60 years left (60*.05 = 3%). Now you’re talking about a possible 1% difference and the negative affect on someone’s life from the anxiety of knowing they have an aneurysm. I also wonder if the operation is less risky with a younger patient. While it may have been better to never have known you have an aneurysm, once you do know the decision isn’t obvious to me. He did offer his opinion for himself, but being older changes the equation. In her case she did have initial symptoms that lead to the scan, but they were likely unrelated. Paternalistic medicine isn’t really a thing anymore so on these edge cases I think it makes sense to discuss the risks with the patient (which is what was discussed at the beginning of the story).