Comparative Assessment of Biomechanical Parameters in Subjects With Multiple Cerebral Aneurysms Using Fluid-Structure...

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Cardiovascular Research
• Computational Fluid Dynamics

Background:

• Cerebral aneurysm progression involves biomechanical and clinical risk factors.
• Subjects with multiple aneurysms offer a unique model to isolate biomechanical effects.

Purpose of the Study:

• To computationally analyze biomechanical differences between stable and growing cerebral aneurysms in the same subjects.
• To identify specific biomechanical parameters associated with aneurysm growth.

Main Methods:

• Comparative computational fluid-structure interaction analysis using simvascular.
• Image-based modeling of stable and growing aneurysms from the same individuals.
• Evaluation of wall shear stress, arterial wall displacement, and a novel oscillatory stress index (OStI).

Main Results:

• Growing aneurysms exhibited >2x higher areas of low shear stress compared to stable ones.
• Median peak systolic arterial wall displacement was 1.5x higher in growing aneurysms.
• Growing aneurysms showed distinct regions of low wall shear and high OStI, absent in stable aneurysms.

Conclusions:

• Specific biomechanical factors, including low shear stress and high OStI, are linked to cerebral aneurysm growth.
• These findings suggest potential biomechanical markers for predicting aneurysm progression.
• Further studies in larger cohorts are warranted to validate these biomechanical parameters.