BACKGROUND Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) constitute a family of zinc-dependent proteases (endopeptidases) whose catalytic action is the degradation of the extracellular matrix components. In addition, they play the major role in the degradation of collagen and in the process of tissue remodeling. The present clinical study investigated blood serum levels of metalloproteinases- 1, -2, -3 and ...

It has long been an axiom of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. C ase Presentation: A 70-year-old woman with hypertension presents for evaluation of a single episode of nonexertional chest pain of moderate intensity, atypical for myocardial infarction. Clinical signs of acute aor-tic dissection and cardiac tamponade are absent. A 12-lead ECG and blood test for tropon...

Background: Acute aortic dissection is a common life-threatening disorder affecting the aorta. The immediate mortality rate in aortic dissection is as high as 1% per hour over the first several hours, making early diagnosis and treatment critical for survival. Case presentation: We are presenting a case of Stanford Type A aortic dissection in a 58-year-old male patient with a history of hyperte...

BACKGROUND Acute aortic syndrome is the modern term that includes aortic dissection, intramural hematoma, and symptomatic aortic ulcer. Iatrogenic coronary artery dissection extending to the aorta during percutaneous coronary intervention is a very rare but life-threatening complication. Despite some reports of spontaneous recovery, most of these patients are treated surgically as a spontaneous...

In this issue of the Journal, Pinney and Wasserman describe the case of a patient who survives acute aortic dissection complicated by occlusion of the left main coronary ostium and anterior myocardial infarction (MI), due in part to the fortuitous presence of an anomalous left circumflex artery. The case illustrates the challenges of diagnosing aortic dissection, even in the current era of accu...

BACKGROUND Although single case reports have described acute aortic dissection in relation to cocaine use, this condition is not widely recognized, and the features of cocaine-related aortic dissection have not been defined. METHODS AND RESULTS We reviewed all available hospital charts from 1981 to 2001 with the ICD-9 diagnosis of aortic dissection. Among the 38 cases of acute aortic dissecti...

Thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) in the current era has been chosen as a dominant and minimally invasive treatment for complicated aorta dissection. This study aimed to assess safety and feasibility of TEVAR in acute and chronic type B aortic dissection.Between January 2011 and December 2013, 85 patients with complicated type B aortic dissection undergoing TEVAR were divided into acu...

Aortic dissection is one of the most common aortic emergencies affecting around 2000 Americans each year. It usually presents in the acute state but in a small percentage of patients aortic dissections go unnoticed and these patients survive without any adequate therapy. With recent advances in medical care and diagnostic technologies, aortic dissection can be successfully managed through surgi...

RATIONALE Mutations in fibrillin-1 are associated with thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA) in Marfan syndrome. Genome-wide association studies also implicate fibrillin-1 in sporadic TAA. Fragmentation of the aortic elastic lamellae is characteristic of TAA. OBJECTIVE Immunoassays were generated to test whether circulating fragments of fibrillin-1, or other microfibril fragments, are associated wit...

Intramural hematoma (IMH) of the aorta came onto the clinical horizon with its recognition as a variant of aortic dissection and with the early diagnostic use of modern tomographic imaging modalities in the evaluation of acute thoracic pain syndromes. IMH, which is a precursor of dissection, cannot be reliably distinguished from classic dissection on clinical grounds and is considered to repres...