PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Haifeng Wang
AU  - Klemens Uhlmann
AU  - Vijay Vedula
AU  - Daniel Balzani
AU  - Fathollah Varnik
TI  - Fluid-structure interaction simulation of tissue degradation and its effects on intra-aneurysm hemodynamics
AID  - 10.1101/2021.09.01.458529
DP  - 2021 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2021.09.01.458529
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/09/02/2021.09.01.458529.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/09/02/2021.09.01.458529.full
AB  - Tissue degradation plays a crucial role in vascular diseases such as atherosclerosis and aneurysms. We present a novel finite element method-based approach to model the microscopic degradation of an aneurysmal wall due to its interaction with blood flow. The model is applied to study the combined effects of pulsatile flow and tissue degradation on the deformation and intra-aneurysm hemodynamics. Our computational analysis reveals that tissue degradation leads to a weakening of the aneurysmal wall, which manifests itself in a larger deformation and a smaller von Mises stress. Moreover, simulation results for different heart rates, blood pressures and aneurysm geometries indicate consistently that, upon tissue degradation, wall shear stress increases near the flow-impingement region and decreases away from it. These findings are discussed in the context of recent reports regarding the role of both high and low wall shear stress for the progression and rupture of aneurysms.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.