Aneurysm Growth and Thrombus Formation in the Basilar Artery

Modifying aneurysm hemodynamics may reduce the likelihood of aneurysm rupture. In this study, hemodynamics in a growing aneurysm and a thrombus-developing basilar aneurysm is studied. The locations of thrombus and growth were identified by co-registering MR images of aneurysms at two different times. The thrombus (~6mm) appeared at the superior side of the aneurysm, where the flow impinged on the wall, and aneurysm growth (~3mm) was found at the inferior side (lower part) of the aneurysm. The wall shear stress was calculated from flow simulations. The location of growth has a very low wall shear stress (< 0.01N/m²). The change of hemodynamics during thrombus development was not significant, but the thickest thrombus was shown to have a wall shear stress level between 0.2 and 1N/m2.