Data from: Hypoperfusion of the adventitial vasa vasorum develops an abdominal aortic aneurysm

The aortic wall is perfused by the adventitial vasa vasorum (VV). Tissue
hypoxia has previously been observed as a manifestation of enlarged
abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs). We sought to determine whether
hypoperfusion of the adventitial VV could develop AAAs. We created a novel
animal model of adventitial VV hypoperfusion with a combination of a
polyurethane catheter insertion and a suture ligation of the infrarenal
abdominal aorta in rats. VV hypoperfusion caused tissue hypoxia and
developed infrarenal AAA, which had similar morphological and pathological
characteristics to human AAA. In human AAA tissue, the adventitial VV were
stenotic in both small AAAs (30–49 mm in diameter) and in large AAAs
(> 50 mm in diameter), with the sac tissue in these AAAs being
ischemic and hypoxic. These results indicate that hypoperfusion of
adventitial VV has critical effects on the development of infrarenal AAA.