Treatment With Endovascular or Open Repair for AAA - Comparison of Perioperative Myocardial Injury Detected With Holter-ECG and Troponin

Background: Traditional open surgery for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is burdened with complication risk from several organ systems, and also mortality figures of 3.5 - 5.5%. Over 50% of early mortality can be attributed to cardiovascular complications. Myocardial infarction is the dominant organ-specific cause of both early and late mortality in patients operated on for AAA. Endovascular surgery (EndoVascular Aortic Repair, EVAR) was developed during the 90's as an alternative method that is considered less invasive and more well-tolerated from a cardiovascular perspective.

Troponin T is a very sensitive and specific marker that predicts mortality in patients with acute symptoms of unstable angina and/or heart attack. Previous studies have also shown a high incidence of elevated troponin levels in patients who underwent major surgical procedures, especially vascular surgery, even in the absence of corresponding clinical or ECG-related symptoms of cardiac muscle injury. Several studies have also demonstrated that elevated troponin levels after surgery predict increased morbidity and mortality both short-term and long-term.