Author(s)

Abraham Yik-Sau Tang, Hiu-Ning Chan, Anderson Chun-On Tsang, Gilberto Ka-Kit Leung, Kar-Ming Leung, Alfred Cheuk-Hang Yu, Kwok-Wing Chow

Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
Department of Neurosurgery, Kwong Wah Hospital, Hong Kong, China.
Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hos-pital, Hong Kong, China.
Medical Engineering Program, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.

Intracranial aneurysm occurs when a cerebral artery develops an abnormal sac-like dilatation, and will cause massive bleeding in the subarachnoid space upon rupture. Endovascular stenting is a minimally invasive procedure in which a flow-diverting stent is deployed to cover the aneurysm neck, thereby restricting blood from entering the aneurysm and reducing the risk of rupture. The stent porosity, a crucial factor determining the intra-aneurysmal hemodynamics following treatment, is investigated by computational fluid dynamics techniques. Based on the computational results, a low porosity stent will dramatically reduce the flow velocity and the flow rate inside the side branch vessel. Conversely, a high porosity stent may not provide adequate flow reduction inside the aneurysm, possibly causing treatment failure. An advisable range of optimal stent porosity would be 60% to 75%, which can drastically reduce the flow rate into the aneurysm while preserving enough blood flow for the side branch vessel. Clinically, deployment of two or more flow-diverting stents may not increase treatment efficacy but can potentially lead to adverse effects due to side-branch hypoperfusion. The present quantitative analysis can also provide practical insight for future stent design.

Intracranial aneurysm; Endovascular Treatment; Stent; Stent Porosity; Computational Fluid Dynamics

Tang, A. , Chan, H. , Tsang, A. , Leung, G. , Leung, K. , Yu, A. and Chow, K. (2013) The effects of stent porosity on the endovascular treatment of intracranial aneurysms located near a bifurcation. Journal of Biomedical Science and Engineering, 6, 812-822. doi: 10.4236/jbise.2013.68099.