Uric acid in aortic dissection: A meta-analysis

Background: Studies on the serum uric acid levels in patients with aortic dissection have yielded conflicting results. Objective: To compare the difference in serum uric acid (SUA) levels between aortic dissection patients and controls by meta-analysis. Methods: Electronic literature search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, CKNI, CBM, Wanfang, and VIP databases until January 31, 2018. All observational studies that investigated SUA levels in aortic dissection patients and controls were included. Weighted mean difference (WMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) was used to summarize the difference in SUA levels between aortic dissection and control group. Results: A total of seven case-control studies involving 1197 patients and 1193 controls were included. Pooled analysis showed that SUA levels were significantly higher in aortic dissection patients compared with those in the controls (WMD 58.22 mu mol/L; 95% CI 26.71-89.73) in a random effect model. No significant difference (WMD 9.94 mu mol/L; 95% CI-17.89-37.76) was observed in SUA levels between Stanford type A and Stanford type B aortic dissection. Conclusions: This meta-analysis provides evidence that SUA levels are significantly higher among patients with aortic dissection than those in controls. Elevated SUA levels may contribute to the pathogenesis of aortic dissection. Further large clinical studies to investigate whether SUA levels are an independently risk factor for aortic dissection are warranted.