Significance of Elevated Granulocyte Elastase (PMN-E) in the Acute Stage of Nontraumatic Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

Abstract

We evaluated granulocyte elastase (PMN-E), a kind of serine protease, in the serum of 48 patients in the acute stage of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). PMN-E on admission was 956.6 ± 1097.8 μg/L in the patients who eventually developed arterial spasm (spasm group, n=16) and 554.5 ± 979.4 μg/L in the non-spasm group (n=32), respectively. PMN-E on day 5 following SAH was 607.6 ± 579.6 μg/L in the spasm group and 307.7 ± 263.5 μg/L in the non-spasm group. The difference was significant between the groups on day 5 (p =0.017). PMN-E on admission was 608.2 ± 990.9 μg/L in the good recovery-moderately disabled group of patients (n=33) according to Glasgow outcome scale, and 831.9 ± 1127.0 μg/L in the severely disabled-dead group (n=15).
These results suggest that the neutrophils play an important role in arterial spasm after SAH.