Cardiovascular pathology : the official journal of the Society for Cardiovascular Pathology
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Cardiovasc. Pathol. · Jan 2017
Loss of mechanical directional dependency of the ascending aorta with severe medial degeneration.
Biomechanical characterization of the aortic wall may help risk stratify patients with aneurysms. We investigated the degree of anisotropy, the directional dependency of mechanical properties, in control and aneurysmal ascending aortic tissue. We hypothesized that medial degeneration and aortic wall remodeling as found in aneurysmal tissue alter energy loss in both the circumferential and longitudinal directions, thereby reducing anisotropy. ⋯ Furthermore, the greatest energy loss anisotropy was found on the inner curvature of the aorta (P=.01). Energy loss demonstrates the directional dependency of aortic tissue. Energy loss isotropy is associated with medial degeneration, indicating that microstructural changes can be captured by global biomechanics, thereby identifying it as a marker of disease severity.