185 * RED BLOOD CELL DISTRIBUTION WIDTH PREDICTS MORBIDITY AND MORTALITY AFTER AORTIC VALVE REPLACEMENT

Histological and genetic studies in patients with bicuspid aortic valve and ascending aorta complications.

OBJECTIVES: Aneurysm diameter and growing rate does not represent a definite parameter for operation in bicuspid aortic valve (BAV), ascending aortic aneurysm and normal root patients. Thus, we investigated histological and immunohistochemical aspects of different segments of ascending aorta (precisely, aortic root without dilatation, aneurysmatic tubular portion, dissected ascending aorta) and genetic features of patients with BAV and ascending aorta complication (aneurysm or dissection). METHODS: Aorta tissue samples of 24 BAV patients were examined. The patients comprised of 18 men and 6 women; the mean age was 54.2 ± 14.3 years. All patients underwent composite aortic root replacement (…

A particular phenotype of ascending aorta aneurysms as precursor of type A aortic dissection.

Objectives: We aimed to identify a phenotype of ascending thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA), which, more than others, evolves into type A dissection (TAD). Methods: Aortic specimens were obtained from patients undergoing surgical repair of TAA and TAD (108 and 26, respectively). Histopathological and immunohistochemical analyses were performed by using adequate tissue specimens, appropriate techniques and criteria. Results: We identified the three following TAA phenotypes: phenotype I (cystic medial degeneration balanced by a substitutive fibrosis, in absence of medial apoptosis and with a faint collagenase concentration), phenotype II (cystic medial degeneration of higher grade, respectively,…

CRT-724 Can the Aortic Wall Communicate with Us?

Association between aortic aneurysm wall and risk of rupture or dissection. Aortic specimens were obtained from 73 patients (51 men and 22 women, whose median age 61.7± 10.7 years) undergoing surgical repair of thoracic ascending aneurysm (TAA). Histopathological and immunohistochemical analyses

Is the Mean Blood Leukocyte Telomere Length a Predictor for Sporadic Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm? Data from a Preliminary Study

Telomeres have been postulated as a universal clock that shortens in parallel with cellular aging. They are specialized DNA-protein structures at the ends of chromosome with remarkable functions--preventing their recognition as double-stranded DNA breaks, protecting their recombination and degradation, and avoiding a DNA damage cellular response. Telomere shortening is currently considered the best aging marker, but is also a predictor for age-related diseases, including cardiovascular diseases. Biological age clearly seems to be a better predictor of vascular risk rather than chronological age. This concept is supported by key assumptions that peripheral blood leukocyte telomere content ac…

CRT-723 Is the Sporadic Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm the Result of an Inflammatory Process?

Sporadic thoracic aortic aneurysm (S-TAA) is potentially devastating with severe morbidity and mortality. The histopathologic underlying abnormality of both ascending aortic aneurysm and dissection is medial degeneration, a pathological entity initially described as no inflammatory lesions of smooth