Usefulness of Measuring the Serum Elastin Fragment Level in the Diagnosis of an Acute Aortic Dissection.

Abstract

Previous reports have shown that serum elastin fragments (SEFs) may be a useful biomarker for the diagnosis of an acute aortic dissection (AAD). However, because the reference interval of SEFs has not been established, it has not been determined whether SEFs are really useful for the diagnosis of AAD. The purpose of this study was to determine the usefulness of measuring SEFs for the diagnosis of AAD. A total of 42 consecutive patients aged 68 ± 18 years who were diagnosed with an AAD were studied. Patient background and SEF levels were examined on admission. SEF levels were also measured in patients undergoing a medical examination (n = 531, age 54 ± 17 years) to compare with those with an AAD. In the control group, SEF levels increased with age (R = 0.725, p <0.001). Then, we defined the upper limit of the reference interval of SEF levels as the 97.5th percentile of control SEF grouped by decade of life from the sixth to ninth decade. The overall risk of AAD exceeding the upper limit of the reference interval at each decade was 10% (4 of 42). For patients in their 60s and 70s, median SEF levels in the AAD group (89 [77 to 104], 93 [60 to 123] ng/ml, respectively) were not significantly higher than those in the control group (79 [68 to 92], 90 [79 to 106] ng/ml, respectively; p = 0.081 and 0.990, respectively). Our data suggest that measuring SEF levels may not be useful in the diagnosis of an AAD as the upper limit of the reference interval of the SEF level was unexpectedly higher.

• Authors: Koichi Akutsu, Hiroyuki Yamanaka, Masahiko Katayama, Takeshi Yamamoto, Morimasa Takayama, Motohisa Osaka, Naoki Sato, Wataru Shimizu
• Journal: The American journal of cardiology (Am J Cardiol) Vol. 118 Issue 9 Pg. 1405-1409 (Nov 01 2016) ISSN: 1879-1913 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 27666178 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• Biomarkers
• Elastin

Topics

• Acute Disease
• Aged
• Aortic Dissection (diagnosis)
• Aortic Aneurysm (diagnosis)
• Biomarkers (blood)
• Diagnosis, Differential
• Elastin (blood)
• Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
• Female
• Humans
• Male
• Middle Aged