title: Serum levels of elastin-derived peptides in patients with ruptured and asymptomatic abdominal aortic aneurysms.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  to determine whether serum elastin-derived peptides (S-EDP), are lower in patients with ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms (rAAA) than asymptomatic (aAAA).
  
  
  METHODS
  serum samples were collected preoperatively from 45 consecutive patients with aAAA and 15 haemodynamically stable patients with rAAA. S-EDP (ng/ml) was measured by a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
  
  
  RESULTS
  S-EDP (mean +/- s.d.) was significantly lower in patients with rAAA (31.6 ng/ml +/- 6.8) than in patients with aAAA (39.4 ng/ml +/- 8.0 p=0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  patients with rAAA had significantly lower levels of S-EDP than patients with aAAA. The possibility that S-EDP can be used to identify patients at increased risk of rupture requires further investigation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Umeå University Hospital, Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Petersen
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gineitis
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wågberg
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Angquist
mesh_terms: D017542:Aneurysm, Ruptured / Q000097:blood*; D017544:Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal / Q000097:blood*; D004549:Elastin; D006801:Humans; D010455:Peptides / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D010455:Peptides; D004549:Elastin