Quantification heterogeneous wall displacement and circumferential strain in the thoracic and abdominal aorta by spiral cine DENSE MRI

We used spiral cine DENSE (Displacement Encoding with Stimulated Echoes) MRI in the aortic wall to examine the heterogeneity of displacement and strain at three axial locations along the aorta. The major findings of this study were that spiral cine DENSE MRI is a viable technique for assessing patient-specific aortic wall kinematics in-vivo, that regional displacement and circumferential strain are heterogeneous and vary depending on aortic location, and neither mean nor maximum displacement co-localized with sections of peak circumferential strain.