Changes in wall shear stress magnitude after aneurysm rupture

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) studies on cerebral aneurysms have attempted to identify surrogate hemodynamic parameters to predict rupture risk. We present a case of bilateral mirror image aneurysms, one of which ruptured soon after imaging. Wall shear stress values of the ruptured aneurysm changed by 20–30 % after rupture because of change in the aneurysm shape. Findings from our case suggest that CFD studies comparing unruptured and ruptured aneurysms may not yield valid estimation on aneurysm rupture risk because of changes in aneurysm shape after rupture. Changes in aneurysm shape after rupture should be considered in CFD research.