Serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase in dissecting aneurysm of the thoracic aorta.

FOR obvious reasons, separation of the entities of myocardial infarction and dissecting aneurysm of the thoracic aorta has often presented a difficult and perplexing problem in clinical medicine. With the advent of serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT) determination as a diagnostic measure in the diagnosis of myocardial infarction, it has been suggested' that this procedure may be of help in differentiating the 2 conditions. Review of the medical literature to date yields mention of SGOT activity in only 1 case of dissecting aneurysm of the aorta2 with a single normal value of 18 units. It is the purpose of this report to present 3 cases of dissecting aneurysm of the thoracic aorta, 2 of which showed elevation of serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase activity during their clinical course and a third that did not, along with certain observations as to the possible mechanism of the elevated SGOT activity. Determination of SGOT activity was performed by the method of Cabaud, Leeper, and Wroblewski.3