Molecular targets in aortic aneurysm for establishing novel management paradigms

Aortic aneurysm (AA) is a lethal disease and presents a large challenge for surgeons in the clinic. Although surgical management remains the major choice of AA, operative mortality remains high. With advances in understanding of the mechanisms of AAs, molecular targets, such as matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), D-dimer, and inflammation markers, including C-reactive protein, interleukins and phagocytes, are important in the pathology of development of AA. These markers may become important for improving the diagnostic quality and provide more therapeutic choices for treatment of AA. Although these new markers require long-term trials before they can be translated into the clinic, they can still be helpful in determining new directions. The main aim of this review is to discuss the current findings of molecular targets in progression of AA and discuss the potential application of these new targets for managing this disease.