• Andreas Wagner, Hans Domanovits, Michael Holzer, Julia Kofler, Martin Röggla, Markus Müllner, Elisabeth Oschatz, Manfred Prager, Michael Grimm, Fritz Sterz, and Anton N Laggner.
• Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Vienna, Vienna General Hospital, Vienna, Austria.
• Resuscitation. 2002 Apr 1; 53 (1): 71-6.

Purpose And BackgroundWe investigated the plasma levels of endothelin 1/2 in patients with acute symptoms relating to a known or newly diagnosed aortic aneurysm in order to investigate the possible role of peptides in the development of the disease.MethodsEndothelin 1/2 plasma levels were determined in patients admitted to the emergency unit with suspected acute aortic disease. The history, type of aneurysm, outcome and laboratory findings were determined and compared to endothelin 1/2 levels collected on admission.ResultsIn patients with ruptured aneurysm (n=27) or acute aortic dissection (n=18) the endothelin 1/2 median levels were higher 1.1 (25th and 75th quartile 0.7, 1.7) fmol/ml than in patients (n=20) with pre-existing aneurysm 0.7 (0.4, 1.1) fmol/ml (P=0.013). Patients who died had significantly higher endothelin levels 1.3 (0.8, 1.9) fmol/ml than the survivors 0.8 (0.5, 1.4) fmol/ml (P=0.04). In a logistic regression analysis, only a higher blood pressure on admission was an independent predictor of survival.ConclusionEndothelin 1/2 levels are elevated in patients with acute dissection or ruptured aneurysm, but they are not an independent predictor of survival.

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