MRI Measurements of Wall Shear Stress in the Infrarenal Aorta in the Young and Old

Andrew L. Wentland¹, Erik T. Bieging², Alex Frydrychowicz², Mark L. Schiebler², Thomas M. Grist¹, Oliver Wieben¹, Chris J. Francois²

While studies have shown that low wall shear stress (WSS) contributes to the formation of atherosclerotic plaques and that low WSS correlates with high atherosclerotic indices, WSS in the elderly, who have a greater incidence of atherosclerosis, remains unknown. In this study, we compared measurements of peak WSS in the infrarenal aorta in young and old subjects. Measurements of peak WSS tended to be lower in the old than the young, although this trend was not statistically significant. The percent increase in WSS from diastolic baseline to peak systole was not significantly different between young and old subjects.