(516v) Hypertension and Hemodynamics in Renal Arteries with Aneurysm

One cause of hypertension is a malfunctioning in the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS). The RAAS is a renal hormonal control system that regulates systemic blood pressure by sensing the blood pressure inside the kidney and releasing a vasoconstrictor to correct low blood pressure. A malfunction of the RAAS associated with hypertension could be induced by a large pressure drop caused by abnormal structure of the renal artery, fooling the RAAS into lowering systemic blood pressure. Using computational fluid dynamics software it is possible to model flow for various renal artery geometries. This research seeks to evaluate common aneurysm geometries occurring in the renal artery as a cause of hypertension. The pressure difference for typical renal arteries has been determined as a baseline for comparison. The effect of aneurysm size, location, and placement relative to the artery has been investigated in silico. Results show that the pressure difference in the presence of an aneurysm only is not significantly higher than that for a typical renal artery. These findings have led to new theories of how aneurysms would increase the pressure difference across the artery.