Aorto-Iliac Flow Sensitive MRI: Blood Flow Pre and Post Endovascular Aortic Repair

Maximilian Frederik Russe¹, Philipp Blanke¹, Wulf Euringer¹, Julia Geiger¹, Zoran Stankovic¹, Bernd Jung¹, Mathias Langer¹

Blood flow patterns are altered in aortic aneurysms. After endovascular aortic repair (EVAR), changes in flow patterns are conceivable, potentially resulting in stent-specific complications such as iliac limb thrombosis due to functional stenosis or proximal neck dilation. Using flow-sensitive MRI and flow visualization, flow patterns were studied in vivo prior and after EVAR. While pre-EVAR aortic blood flow patterns were characterized by vortex-formation and flow deceleration during passage through the aneurysm, post-EVAR blood flow was laminar with similar velocities in the stent body and the aorta proximal to the stent, but with strongly increased velocities in the iliac limbs.