ABDOMINAL AORTIC ANEURYSM GROWTH: THE ASSOCIATION OF AORTIC WALL MECHANICS AND GEOMETRY

摘要

In an effort to prevent rupture, patients with known AAA undergo periodic abdominal ultrasound or CT scan surveillance. When the aneurysm grows to a diameter of 5.0 - 5.5 cm or is shown to expand at a rate greater than 1 cm/yr, elective operative repair is undertaken. While this strategy certainly prevents a number of potentially catastrophic ruptures, AAA rupture can occur at sizes less than 5 cm. From a biomechanical standpoint, aneurysm rupture occurs when wall stress exceeds wall strength. By using non-invasive techniques, such as finite element analysis (FEA), wall stress can be estimated for patient specific AAA models, which can perhaps more carefully predict the rupture potential of a given aneurysm, regardless of size.