Measurements of wall shear stress and aortic pulse wave velocity in swine with familial hypercholesterolemia.

PURPOSE: To assess measurements of pulse wave velocity (PWV) and wall shear stress (WSS) in a swine model of atherosclerosis.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Nine familial hypercholesterolemic (FH) swine with angioplasty balloon catheter-induced atherosclerotic lesions to the abdominal aorta (injured group) and 10 uninjured FH swine were evaluated with a 4D phase contrast (PC) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) acquisition, as well as with radial and Cartesian 2D PC acquisitions, on a 3T MR scanner. PWV values were computed from the 2D and 4D PC techniques, compared between the injured and uninjured swine, and validated against reference standard pressure probe-based PWV measurements. WSS values were also computed from the 4D PC MRI technique and compared between injured and uninjured groups.

RESULTS: PWV values were significantly greater in the injured than in the uninjured groups with the 4D PC MRI technique (P = 0.03) and pressure probes (P = 0.02). No significant differences were found in PWV between groups using the 2D PC techniques (P = 0.75-0.83). No significant differences were found for WSS values between the injured and uninjured groups.

CONCLUSION: The 4D PC MRI technique provides a promising means of evaluating PWV and WSS in a swine model of atherosclerosis, providing a potential platform for developing the technique for the early detection of atherosclerosis.