Angiotensin II infusion into ApoE-/- mice: a model for aortic dissection rather than abdominal aortic aneurysm?

Abstract

Based on our observations we propose an elaborate hypothesis that explains how aortic side branches (i) affect the initiation and propagation of medial tears and the subsequent adventitial dissection and (ii) affect the variability in shape of dissecting aneurysms. This hypothesis was partially validated through the live visualization of a dissecting aneurysm that formed during micro-CT imaging, and led us to the conclusion that angiotensin II-infused mice are more clinically relevant for the study of aortic dissections than for the study of abdominal aortic aneurysms.