Prospective diagnostic accuracy study of plasma soluble ST2 for diagnosis of acute aortic syndromes

Sci Rep. 2020 Feb 20;10(1):3103. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-59884-6.

Abstract

Acute aortic syndromes (AASs) are difficult to diagnose emergencies. Plasma soluble ST2 (sST2), a prognostic biomarker for heart failure, has been proposed as a diagnostic biomarker of AASs outperforming D-dimer, the current diagnostic standard. We performed a prospective diagnostic accuracy study of sST2 for AASs in the Emergency Department (ED). In 2017-2018, patients were enrolled if they had ≥1 red-flag symptoms (chest/abdominal/back pain, syncope, perfusion deficit) and a clinical suspicion of AAS. sST2 was detected with the Presage® assay. Adjudication was based on computed tomography angiography (CTA) or on diagnostic outcome inclusive of 30-day follow-up. 297 patients were enrolled, including 88 with AASs. The median age was 67 years. In 162 patients with CTA, the median sST2 level was 41.7 ng/mL (IQR 29.4-103.2) in AASs and 34.6 ng/mL (IQR 21.4-51.5) in alternative diagnoses (P = 0.005). In ROC analysis, the AUC of sST2 was 0.63, as compared to 0.82 of D-dimer (P < 0.001). Sensitivity and specificity values of sST2 associated with different cutoffs were: 95.5% and 10.8% (≥12 ng/mL), 84.1% and 29.7% (≥23.7 ng/mL), 35.2% and 85.1% (≥66.5 ng/mL). Results were similar in the full cohort. In conclusion, in patients from a European ED, plasma sST2 provided modest accuracy for diagnosis of AASs.

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Aortic Aneurysm / blood
  • Aortic Aneurysm / diagnosis*
  • Aortic Dissection / blood
  • Aortic Dissection / diagnosis*
  • Area Under Curve
  • Biomarkers / blood*
  • Cardiology / standards*
  • Female
  • Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products / analysis
  • Humans
  • Interleukin-1 Receptor-Like 1 Protein / blood*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Prognosis
  • Prospective Studies
  • ROC Curve
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Risk Factors

Substances

  • Biomarkers
  • Fibrin Fibrinogen Degradation Products
  • IL1RL1 protein, human
  • Interleukin-1 Receptor-Like 1 Protein
  • fibrin fragment D