Authors: A Maier M W Gee C Reeps J Pongratz HH Eckstein W A Wall
Publish Date: 2010/05/18
Volume: 38, Issue: 10, Pages: 3124-3134
Abstract
An abdominal aortic aneurysm AAA is a balloonlike dilation of the aorta which is potentially fatal in case of rupture Computational finite element FE analysis is a promising approach to a more accurate and patientspecific rupture risk prediction AAA wall strength and rupture potential index RPI calculation are implemented in our FE software Static structural FE simulations are performed on n = 30 nonruptured asymptomatic n = 9 nonruptured symptomatic and n = 14 ruptured AAAs We calculate maximum values for diameter wall displacement strain stress and RPI as well as minimum wall strength for every AAA All investigated quantities except minimum strength show statistically significant differences between nonruptured asymptomatic and symptomatic/ruptured AAAs Maximum wall stress and especially the RPI are notably increased for symptomatic and ruptured AAAs The biggest difference is found to be the RPI Δ = 449 p = 80e−5 Lowest RPI obtained for symptomatic or ruptured AAAs is 03 The RPI of more than 55 of the investigated asymptomatic AAAs falls below this value Maximum wall stress and maximum RPI criteria enable a reliable rupture risk evaluation for AAAs Especially in the diameter range where surgical indication is not obvious the RPI holds great potential for improvement of clinical decisions
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