The response of an intracranial saccular aneurysm to applied loads, whether
blood pressure or endovascular intervention, depends on both the geometry
and material properties of the lesion. Yet, in the development of animal mo
dels of these lesions little attention has been given to the evaluation of
their mechanical behavior. Our goal was to compare I he multiaxial mechanic
al behavior of a canine vein pouch model to published data on veins and hum
an aneurysms. Nine vein pouches were created surgically in six mongrel dogs
by anastomosing a 2 cm segment of the external jugular vein to the common
carotid artery in an end-to-side fashion. The lesions were harvested one we
ek post-surgery and subjected to cyclic inflation tests using a custom syst
em, pressure-regional strain data revealed that vein pouch aneurysms are ve
ry extensible for pressures up to 30 mmHg, especially in the axial directio
n, but stiff thereafter. None of the lesions ruptured in vivo or during inf
lation tests. Based on these data, we conclude that the overall behavior of
canine vein pouch lesions, at one week post-surgery, did not mimic well th
at of human aneurysms. Thus, there is a need to pursue modifications or oth
er models for the purposes of clinically relevant studies of lesion growth,
rupture, and treatment.