Soluble ST2 for the diagnosis of acute aortic syndromes: a new hope or just another clone war?

Acute aortic syndromes (AAS) are cardiovascular emergencies affecting 3.5 to 6 per 100,000 patient-years in the general population, and ~35 per 100,000 patient-years in people aged >75 years (1,2). AAS subtypes are acute aortic dissection (AAD), aortic intramural hematoma (IMH), spontaneous aortic rupture and penetrating aortic ulcer (PAU), with AAD representing 60% to 90% of all cases.