A matched-pair case control study identifying hemodynamic predictors of cerebral aneurysm growth using computational fluid dynamics.

Initiation and progression of cerebral aneurysms is known to be driven by complex interactions between biological and hemodynamic factors, but the hemodynamic mechanism which drives aneurysm growth is unclear. We employed robust modeling and computational methods, including temporal and spatial convergence studies, to study hemodynamic characteristics of cerebral aneurysms and identify differences in these characteristics between growing and stable aneurysms. Eleven pairs of growing and non-growing cerebral aneurysms, matched in both size and location, were modeled from MRA and CTA images, then simulated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD).