Estimation of Biomechanical Aortic Wall Properties in Healthy and Aneurysmal Aortas Using Novel Imaging Techniques

Description

Patients with Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm, (AAA), will be identified within the vascular surgery practice. Those patients who meet standard indications for surgery including symptomatic AAA, size >5.0-5.5 cm, or rapidly enlarging >0.5 cm per 6 months will have standard pre-operative work-up which includes magnetic resonance angiogram (MRA) and Echocardiogram (ECHO). These pre-operative studies will be modified for the study patients to include electrocardiogram(ECG)-gating (coupled with MR angiogram) and 2-Dimensional speckle-tracking ultrasound of the abdominal aorta. Patients in the study will be followed for 1 year. Measurements will be analyzed for any relationship between aortic wall properties and clinical outcomes such as aneurysm growth, rupture risk or aortic dissection. This study will be comparing 3 groups of patients: no surgery (surveillance), open surgery, and endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR).