How will high elevated heart enzymes effect an aortic dissection? my daddy has an decending aortic dissection that is 5.4cm and very very very close to his spine, so close they are trying extremely hard every way they can not to have to do surgery. he has

Most : Most current "heart enzyme" tests are very specific for heart damage (troponin), although there are older tests which are used less frequently which can be elevated in the setting of other muscle damage (ckmb, myoglobin). I would start by finding out which test exactly is abnormal. If it is indeed an elevated level of "troponin" then this typically indicates heart damage which can then be caused by either undue strain on the heart, or most commonly by low blood flow to the heart muscle which causes some of the cells to die off and release the enzyme. We know that many people with cardiovascular disease have issues in more than one area, so if you father has an aortic dissection, there is a good chance that he also has coronary artery disease which would increase his risk for surgery further. I would encourage you to sit down and talk with your father's physician and ask some of these same questions face to face and obtain some specific answers relating to you father's condition.

Other way around: A dissection that compromises heart and coronaries may cause heart damage and enzyme release. If one has a heart attack and enzyme release an aneurysm is not usually affected. Combinations of disease are possible but not the most common. The descending aorta is generally close to the spine. 5.4 is in the range to consider repair depending on the test of risks and benefit assessment.