The authors regret the omission of the following funding acknowledgement from their previously published article: Funding provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England supported by Rosetrees Trust.

Background Hypothesis-free global proteomics can provide the functional information required to select biologically plausible candidate biomarkers of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). The aim of this study was to validate findings from mass spectrometry (MS) discovery studies and investigate the biological plausibility of candidates using in-silico network analysis. Methods We compared data from three independent prospective plasma proteomics case-control discovery studies of AAA. Each study used hypothesis-free designs and different MS techniques (surface-enhanced laser desorption-ionisation time-of-flight MS, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionisation time-of-flight MS, and liquid chromatography quadropole time-of-flight MS). Selected upregulated proteins from the joint analysis of the discovery studies were tested in an independent case-control study (20 AAA, 16 control), using ELISAs to verify MS data. Web based networks analysis tools (the Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery and the Integrative biomolecular analysis for complex ‘omics data; Ingenuity Systems, Inc), were used to further explore the MS data and identify network pathways associated with AAA. Findings The selected upregulated proteins from the joint analysis of MS data from patietns with AAA, apolipoprotein A-1 and kininogen-1, were verified with ELISAs in the independent case-control study (apolipoprotein A-1, p=0·03, area under the curve [AUC]=0·69) and kininogen-1 (p=0·003, AUC=0·86). Network analysis of the combined MS data showed that the inflammatory and defence response, blood coagulation, wound healing, and enzyme inhibition were the biological processes over-represented in the plasma of patients with AAA. Interpretation Using MS techniques we have identified and verified plausible plasma biomarkers for AAA. Funding National Institute for Health Research.

INTRODUCTION:Biomarkers have the potential to improve the clinical management of patients with AAA.REPORT:A prospective, proteomics discovery study was undertaken to compare patients with AAA (n = 20) to matched screened controls (n = 19) for plasma protein expression. Surface-Enhanced-Laser-Desorption-Ionization Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry (SELDI ToF MS) coupled with Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) analysis identified six protein related diagnostic biomarker ions with a combined AUC of 0.89.DISCUSSION:This study discovered a signature plasma protein profile for patients with AAA and demonstrated that mass spectrometric based research for disease specific biomarker of AAA is feasible.

This issue of the Annals contains letters about one recently published technical note and one tip, whose writers point out that they had published the same techniques some time ago. The Technical Section was established ten years ago to fill something of a void in ‘general’ surgical journals, by providing a forum for publication of new and/or useful points of surgical technique. From the outset I knew that many submissions would not be truly original. I ask specialist reviewers: ‘Is it novel, reasonable and/or sufficiently interesting to merit publication?’ If they advise that a technique is one they have seen but that it is useful and seems not to be widely known, then I request that the authors add a few words to point out that the technique is not original. If reviewers state that a technique has been reported in another journal, then it is not accepted: but the Annals does depend on its reviewers for that knowledge and they may well not be aware of ‘small’ publications among the plethora of journals that now exist. It certainly is disappointing to find that authors have not done a thorough literature search: there is little excuse for that nowadays. The Readers’ Pages allow rapid publication of letters if that needs to be pointed out. They also allow authors to respond if they believe that their technique has subtle differences and the Annals encourages such exchanges. I see one aspect of the Technical Section as being a place for trainees to gain their early experience of publishing. If they fail to do a proper literature search and are exposed publicly for that, then it is a deservedly painful step in their learning. Their senior co-authors must also be acutely aware of their own responsibilities for checking final manuscripts and the processes used in their preparation. My own unease in witnessing these exchanges is ameliorated just a little by the fact that it shows that surgeons are reading the Technical Section and noticing when notes and tips are not original. A novel laparoscopic approach for the surgical management of buried bumper syndrome