Wall shear stress at the initiation site of cerebral aneurysms.

Hemodynamics are believed to play an important role in the initiation of cerebral aneurysms. In particular, studies have focused on wall shear stress (WSS), which is a key regulator of vascular biology and pathology. In line with the observation that aneurysms predominantly occur at regions of high WSS, such as bifurcation apices or outer walls of vascular bends, correlations have been found between the aneurysm initiation site and high WSS. The aim of our study was to analyze the WSS field at an aneurysm initiation site that was neither a bifurcation apex nor the outer wall of a vascular bend. Ten cases with aneurysms on the A1 segment of the anterior cerebral artery were analyzed and compared with ten controls. Aneurysms were virtually removed from the vascular models of the cases to mimic the pre-aneurysm geometry. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were created to assess the magnitude, gradient, multidirectionality, and pulsatility of the WSS. To aid the inter-subject comparison of hemodynamic variables, we mapped the branch surfaces onto a two-dimensional parametric space. This approach made it possible to view the whole branch at once for qualitative evaluation. It also allowed us to empirically define a patch for quantitative analysis, which was consistent among subjects and encapsulated the aneurysm initiation sites in our dataset. To test the sensitivity of our results, CFD simulations were repeated with a second independent observer virtually removing the aneurysms and with a 20 % higher flow rate at the inlet. We found that branches harboring aneurysms were characterized by high WSS and high WSS gradients. Among all assessed variables, the aneurysm initiation site most consistently coincided with peaks of temporal variation in the WSS magnitude.

Does Arterial Flow Rate Affect the Assessment of Flow-Diverter Stent Performance?

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Our aim was to assess the performance of flow-diverter stents. The pre- and end-of-treatment angiographies are commonly compared. However, the arterial flow rate may change between acquisitions; therefore, a better understanding of its influence on the local intra-aneurysmal hemodynamics before and after flow-diverter stent use is required. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-five image-based aneurysm models extracted from 3D rotational angiograms were conditioned for computational fluid dynamics simulations. Pulsatile simulations were performed at different arterial flow rates, covering a wide possible range of physiologic flows among 1-5 mL/s. The effect of flow-diverter stents on intra-aneurysmal hemodynamics was numerically simulated with a porous medium model. Spatiotemporal-averaged intra-aneurysmal flow velocity and flow rate were calculated for each case to quantify the hemodynamics after treatment. The short-term flow-diverter stent performance was characterized by the relative velocity reduction inside the aneurysm. RESULTS: Spatiotemporal-averaged intra-aneurysmal flow velocity before and after flow-diverter stent use is linearly proportional to the mean arterial flow rate (minimum R2 > 0.983 of the linear regression models for untreated and stented models). Relative velocity reduction asymptotically decreases with increasing mean arterial flow rate. When the most probable range of arterial flow rate was considered (3-5 mL/s), instead of the wide possible flow range, the mean SD of relative velocity reduction was reduced from 3.6% to 0.48%. CONCLUSIONS: Both intra-aneurysmal aneurysm velocity and flow-diverter stent performance depend on the arterial flow rate. The performance could be considered independent of the arterial flow rates within the most probable range of physiologic flows.

Approximating hemodynamics of cerebral aneurysms with steady flow simulations.

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations can be employed to gain a better understanding of hemodynamics in cerebral aneurysms and improve diagnosis and treatment. However, introduction of CFD techniques into clinical practice would require faster simulation times. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of computationally inexpensive steady flow simulations to approximate the aneurysm's wall shear stress (WSS) field. Two experiments were conducted. Experiment 1 compared for two cases the time-averaged (TA), peak systole (PS) and end diastole (ED) WSS field between steady and pulsatile flow simulations. The flow rate waveform imposed at the inlet was varied to account for variations in heart rate, pulsatility index, and TA flow rate. Consistently across all flow rate waveforms, steady flow simulations accurately approximated the TA, but not the PS and ED, WSS field. Following up on experiment 1, experiment 2 tested the result for the TA WSS field in a larger population of 20 cases covering a wide range of aneurysm volumes and shapes. Steady flow simulations approximated the space-averaged WSS with a mean error of 4.3%. WSS fields were locally compared by calculating the absolute error per node of the surface mesh. The coefficient of variation of the root-mean-square error over these nodes was on average 7.1%. In conclusion, steady flow simulations can accurately approximate the TA WSS field of an aneurysm. The fast computation time of 6 min per simulation (on 64 processors) could help facilitate the introduction of CFD into clinical practice.

Intra-aneurysmal pressure and flow changes induced by flow diverters: relation to aneurysm size and shape.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Effects of blood flow modification by flow diverters are observed to lead often to aneurysm thrombosis and reverse remodeling. For this process, to further understand the potential roles of intra-aneurysmal blood pressure changes and aneurysm morphologies, 23 patients were studied by numeric simulation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 3D imaging of aneurysms of different sizes and shapes, all located at the supraclinoid segment of the ICA (n=23), was prepared for CFD simulations. Hemodynamic variables were calculated for conditions before and after virtual FD implantation, reconstituting a vessel wall scaffold across the aneurysm neck. WSS, velocity, residence time, turnover time, and intra-aneurysmal pressure were assessed statistically. RESULTS: After placement of FDs, significant reductions inside the aneurysm were observed for most hemodynamic variables (P<.01) except mean intra-aneurysmal pressures. For minimum/maximum intra-aneurysmal pressure values, small but significant changes were found; however, they were considered too small to be of relevance. CONCLUSIONS: Calculations in 23 cases did not reveal significant intra-aneurysmal mean or peak pressure changes, indicating a minor role of pressure changes in the rare event of secondary ruptures after FD use. Other hemodynamic variables (WSS and velocity) exhibited more significant changes, indicating their role in intra-aneurysmal thrombus formation. Size-dependent, significantly higher reduction in WSS (P=.069) and velocity (P=.013) was observed in small aneurysms compared with larger ones. When it came to shape, there were significantly higher reductions in WSS (P=.055) and velocity (P=.065) and a significantly higher increase in turnover time in fusiform aneurysms compared with saccular aneurysms.

How do coil configuration and packing density influence intra-aneurysmal hemodynamics?

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Endovascular coiling is a well-established therapy for treating intracranial aneurysms. Nonetheless, postoperative hemodynamic changes induced by this therapy remain not fully understood. The purpose of this work is to assess the influence of coil configuration and packing density on intra-aneurysmal hemodynamics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three 3D rotational angiography images of 3 intracranial aneurysms before and after endovascular coiling were used. For each aneurysm, a 3D representation of the vasculature was obtained after the segmentation of the images. Afterward, a virtual coiling technique was used to treat the aneurysm geometries with coil models. The aneurysms were coiled with 5 packing densities, and each was generated by using 3 coil configurations. Computational fluid dynamics analyses were carried out in both untreated and treated aneurysm geometries. Statistical tests were performed to evaluate the relative effect of coil configuration on local hemodynamics. RESULTS: The intra-aneurysmal blood flow velocity and wall shear stress were diminished as packing density increased. Aneurysmal flow velocity was reduced >50% due to the first inserted coils (packing density <12%) but with a high dependency on coil configuration. Nonsignificant differences (P > .01) were found in the hemodynamics due to coil configuration for high packing densities (near 30%). A damping effect was observed on the intra-aneurysmal blood flow waveform after coiling. CONCLUSIONS: Intra-aneurysmal hemodynamics are altered by coils. Coil configuration might reduce its influence on intra-aneurysmal hemodynamics as the packing density increases until an insignificant influence could be achieved for high packing densities.

Comparison of steady-state and transient blood flow simulations of intracranial aneurysms.

Hemodynamics play an important role in the pathogenesis of intracranial aneurysms and patient-specific computational hemodynamic simulations could provide valuable information to clinicians. Transient simulations that capture the pulsatility of blood flow are commonly used for research purposes. However, steady-state simulations might provide enough information at a lower computational cost, which could help facilitate the introduction of hemodynamic simulations into clinical practice. In this study, we compared steady-state simulations to transient simulations for two aneurysms. The effect of a change in flow rate waveform was investigated and virtual treatment techniques were employed to compare post-treatment flow reduction predictions. We found that the difference in the time-averaged wall shear stress on the aneurysm was less than 5% and the distribution of wall shear stress was qualitatively assessed to be very similar.