Figure 1

In vivo and ex vivo assessment of AAA area. A: TOF-angiogram (A1) of the suprarenal part of the abdominal aorta 4 weeks after infusion of saline in an ApoE-/- mouse (sham, control). The red line indicates the imaging plane. A non-dilated aortic lumen was found on the angiogram and elastin MRI scan (A4, A5). B: Angiogram (B1) of the suprarenal part of the abdominal aorta 4 weeks after the infusion of angiotensin II in an ApoE-/- mouse (4 week group). On the TOF, a large suprarenal aortic aneurysm could be clearly visualized. On Elastin-MRI a significantly enlarged aortic lumen and a strong enhancement of the aortic wall was visualized (B4, B5). No significant enhancement of the aortic wall could be measured after administration of nonspecific Gd-DTPA. C: A significant increase in aortic vessel wall area was observed over the 4-week time course of angiotensin II infusion. D: In vivo area measurements of lumen area on elastin MRI scans significantly correlated with ex vivo measurements on histology.