A skin test for a connective tissue disorder could help doctors to identify patients at risk from aneurysms – a weakening of the blood vessel wall. Aneurysms are dangerous because the weakened wall can burst, a scenario, which can prove fatal. Dr Caspar Grond-Ginsbach and colleagues at the University of Heidelberg in Germany believe that some people are susceptible to aneurysm because they have a connective tissue disorder. Results of their study showed that a third of patients who had suffered intracranial aneurysm – where a blood vessel inside the brain bursts – also had defects in the structure of their connective tissue in the skin. Connective tissue disorders are easily identifiable via a skin test, thus suggesting that skin tests could help doctors to identify patients at risk from aneurysm.
SOURCE/REFERENCE: Reported by www.bbc.co.uk on the 7th September 2002
