Journal of vascular surgery
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Comparative Study
Local wall thickness in finite element models improves prediction of abdominal aortic aneurysm growth.
Growing evidence suggests that peak wall stress (PWS) derived from finite element analysis (FEA) of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) predicts clinical outcomes better than diameter alone. Prior models assume uniform wall thickness (UWT). We hypothesize that the inclusion of locally variable wall thickness (VWT) into FEA of AAAs will improve its ability to predict clinical outcomes. ⋯ The inclusion of locally VWT significantly improved the correlation between PWS and aneurysm expansion. Aortic wall thickness should be incorporated into future FEA models to accurately predict clinical outcomes.