Hemodynamic indicators of the formation of tandem intracranial aneurysm based on a vascular restoration algorithm

BACKGROUND: Hemodynamic factors are believed to be closely related to IA growth. However, the underlying pathophysiological mechanism that induces the growth sequence in tandem intracranial aneurysms (IAs) remains unclear. METHODS AND RESULTS: This study involved five patients with tandem IAs. Aneurysm models were reconstructed based on image datasets. A novel vascular restoration algorithm was proposed to generate the hypothetical geometry of the healthy parent vessel before each IA formation in the concatenated structure. Detailed hemodynamic patterns and morphological features were revealed under various growth sequences of tandem IAs to investigate the flow-driven mechanism of IA growth. Potential hemodynamic indicators of IA formation were proposed. RESULTS: The patient cases were divided into two groups based on the size difference of tandem IAs. In the group with a similar size of tandem IAs, the position of the vortex core was associated with the site of the secondary aneurysm, while in the group with a significant size difference of the IAs, the position with the maximum curvature of the parent vessel plays a significant role in aneurysm formation. CONCLUSIONS: This study preliminarily revealed key hemodynamic and morphological indicators that determine the formation of tandem IAs. The proposed vascular restoration algorithm that provided the pre-aneurysm vasculature might be useful in investigating the flow-driven mechanism of IA growth, thus contributing to the risk evaluation of secondary aneurysm formation.