title: Histology and Biaxial Mechanical Behavior of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Tissue Samples.
abstract: Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) represent permanent, localized dilations of the abdominal aorta that can be life-threatening if progressing to rupture. Evaluation of risk of rupture depends on understanding the mechanical behavior of patient AAA walls. In this project, a series of patient AAA wall tissue samples have been evaluated through a combined anamnestic, mechanical, and histopathologic approach. Mechanical properties of the samples have been characterized using a novel, strain-controlled, planar biaxial testing protocol emulating the in vivo deformation of the aorta. Histologically, the tissue ultrastructure was highly disrupted. All samples showed pronounced mechanical stiffening with stretch and were notably anisotropic, with greater stiffness in the circumferential than the axial direction. However, there were significant intrapatient variations in wall stiffness and stress. In biaxial tests in which the longitudinal stretch was held constant at 1.1 as the circumferential stretch was extended to 1.1, the maximum average circumferential stress was 330 ± 70 kPa, while the maximum average axial stress was 190 ± 30 kPa. A constitutive model considering the wall as anisotropic with two preferred directions fit the measured data well. No statistically significant differences in tissue mechanical properties were found based on patient gender, age, maximum bulge diameter, height, weight, body mass index, or smoking history. Although a larger patient cohort is merited to confirm these conclusions, the project provides new insight into the relationships between patient natural history, histopathology, and mechanical behavior that may be useful in the development of accurate methods for rupture risk evaluation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155.
authors.forename: Francesco Q
authors.initials: FQ
authors.lastname: Pancheri
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Tufts Medical Center, Boston, MA 02111 e-mail: robert.peattie@tufts.edu.
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Peattie
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Tufts Medical Center, Boston, MA 02111.
authors.forename: Nithin D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Reddy
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155.
authors.forename: Touhid
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ahamed
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155.
authors.forename: Wenjian
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Tufts Medical Center, Boston, MA 02111.
authors.forename: Timothy D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Ouellette
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Tufts Medical Center, Boston, MA 02111.
authors.forename: Mark D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Iafrati
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Luis Dorfmann
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017544:Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal / Q000473:pathology*; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D005260:Female; D020342:Finite Element Analysis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008422:Materials Testing; D055595:Mechanical Phenomena; D008875:Middle Aged; D013314:Stress, Mechanical