Quantification of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Disease Progression Using Small Animal Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) disease, defined as a pathological dilation of the vessel wall, is responsible for 15,000 deaths per year in the United States. Human AAA are often asymmetric, typically expanding anteriorly as the posterior region is supported by the vertebral column [1]. Other work has shown that healthy thoracic aortic motion is also asymmetric in pigs and humans [2]. Two commonly used murine models induce AAA growth with either the infusion of angiotensin II (angII) [3] or intra-arterial perfusion of porcine pancreatic elastase (PPE) into the aortic lumen [4]. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between vessel motion, circumferential cyclic strain, and aneurysm growth in two different murine models of AAA disease using small animal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).