MMP-2 Isoforms in Aortic Tissue and Serum of Patients with Ascending Aortic Aneurysms and Aortic Root Aneurysms.

Objective: The need for biological markers of aortic wall stress and risk of rupture or dissection of ascending aortic aneurysms is obvious. To date, wall stress cannot be related to a certain biological marker. We analyzed aortic tissue and serum for the presence of different MMP-2 isoforms to find a connection between serum and tissue MMP-2 and to evaluate the potential of different MMP-2 isoforms as markers of high wall stress.

Characterization of serum matrix metalloproteinase 2/9 levels in patients with ascending aortic aneurysms.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to identify interrelations between matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP2)/MMP9 levels and clinical variables in patients with aortic root/ascending aortic aneurysms and to describe comorbidities as possible biasing factors in the widely discussed correlation of serum MMP levels and aortic diameter.

Methods: Serum MMP9 and MMP2 levels were quantified in 32 consecutive patients with ascending aortic and/or aortic root aneurysms (>45 mm) at the Heart Center University of Freiburg from May 2013 to January 2014. The influence of comorbidities and medication on serum MMP2 and MMP9 levels was studied.

Four-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging-derived ascending aortic flow eccentricity and flow compression are linked to aneurysm morphology†.

Objectives: The impact of specific blood flow patterns within ascending aortic and/or aortic root aneurysms on aortic morphology is unknown. We investigated the interrelation of ascending aortic flow compression/peripheralization and aneurysm morphology with respect to sinotubuar junction (STJ) definition.

Methods: Thirty-one patients (aortic root/ascending aortic aneurysm >45 mm) underwent flow-sensitive 4D magnetic resonance thoracic aortic flow measurement at 3 Tesla (Siemens, Germany) at two different institutions (Freiburg, Germany, and San Francisco, CA, USA).

Significance and function of different spinal collateral compartments following thoracic aortic surgery: immediate versus long-term flow compensation.

Iatrogenic paraplegia has been accompanying cardiovascular surgery since its beginning. As a result, surgeons have been developing many theories about the exact mechanisms of this devastating complication. Thus, the impact of single arteries that contribute to the spinal perfusion is one of the most discussed subjects in modern surgery.