Plasma endothelin levels in patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms

Objectives: endothelin 1,2 plays a significant role in the process of ather ogenesis and vascular wall injury. The nim of this study was to assess whet her plasma endothelin 1,2 levels were elevated in patients with Inr ge or s ymptomatic abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs). Design: a prospective open study. Materials and methods: plasma endothelin 1,2 levels were measured in 65 con secutive patients with infrarenal aortic aneurysms and compared with the le vels in 44 healthy volunteer controls. The data for abdominal aneurysm pati ents was analysed in four subgroups: (i) small aneuryams (<5 cm), (ii) larg e aneurysms (15 an), (iii) asymptomatic aneurysms and (iv) symptomatic aneu rysms. Comparisons were made between endothelin 1,2 levels in aneurysm pati ents and controls and betic,een the different aneurysm subgroups. Results: a highly significant difference (p<0.0001) was found between aneur ysm patients and controls. Patients with large aneurysms had significantly higher levels than patients with small aneurysms (p<0.01). There was no sta tistical difference in endothelin 1, 2 levels between symptomatic and asymp tomatic patients; however, the highest levels were found in large, symptoma tic aneurysms and the lowest in small, asymptomatic aneurysms. Conclusions: plasma endothelin 1,2 is an endogenous marker of aneurysm diam eter. Further studies are required to determine whether it relates to the r ate of growth of aneurysms.