[Simulation of stent treatment for aneurysms in the inner bend of aortic arch]

Endovascular stent is a new technique for the treatment of aortic arch aneurysms. The present simulation study of endovascular stent treatment for aneurysms in the inner bend of aortic arch is initiated by the fact that no one has ever investigated the hemodynamics of stented aortic arch aneurysm harboring a bleb. For the comparative convenience, a stented and a nonstented aortic arch aneurysm models were constructed respectively. Physiological blood flows in both models were simulated using the computational fluid dynamics method. The detailed flow patterns, pressure and wall shear stress distributions around the aneurysm of both models were compared and analyzed so as to evaluate the effectiveness of endovascular stent treatment for aortic arch aneurysms. Results showed that the stented model is attributed to substantially different intra-aneurysmal flow patterns versus the nonstented model. Flow activities within the stented aneurysmal sacs are markedly diminished, specifically the pressure and wall shear stress in the bleb were significantly decreased. These phenomena allow us to conclude that endovascular stent can promote intra-aneurysmal thrombus development and attenuating aneurysm rupture risk.