In Health Watch:About 200-thousand people in the United States are diagnosed with an Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm every year.And as Drew Levinson reports nearly 15,000 of them could die if not treated.Christopher Vonbayer's had emergency surgery last year for an Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm.His aorta had ballooned to an alarming size.Christopher Vonbayer says, 'had it not been tended to it could have disastrous, curtains.'The aorta is the largest artery in the body. An aneurysm weakens the artery wall.Dr. Thomas Maldonado says, 'The aneurysm essentially is pressurized and with every pulsation can grow and eventually rupture.'Vonbayer's aneurysm made the aorta five times its normal size.Dr. Maldonado says, 'he was ready to blow.'The traditional procedure to fix a problem like Vonbayer's is to make a large incision to get to the aorta...instead he had a minimally invasive surgery that put less stress on the body.It's called Endovascular Aneurysm Repair Surgery or "EVAR"Doctors make a one inch incision in the groin.Then, using x-ray guidance , they feed a sent graph up to the aorta reinforcing the artery wall.DR. MALDONADO says, 'so now the blood is traveling inside the stent graph. It is no longer pressurizing this very tenuous balloon and protecting against rupture.'With EVAR the patient is under a local anesthesia and, instead of a week in the hospital, recovery is much faster.Chris says, 'I walked out on my own two feet two days later.'And, as the procedure becomes more common... doctors believe - patients will soon be able to go home the same day.Drew Levinson, CBS News, New York.Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms can be diagnosed through a simple ultrasound test.Medicare allows for a first time free screening for all new enrollees.