Rupture of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) represents a significant clinical event, having a mortality rate of 90% and being currently ranked as the 13th leading cause of death in the US. The ability to reliably evaluate the susceptibility of a particular AAA to rupture on a case-specific basis could vastly improve the clinical management of these patients. Because AAA rupture represents a mechanical failure of the degenerated aortic wall, biomechanical considerations are important to

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... this process and to improve our predictions of its occurrence. Presented here is an overview of research to date related to the biomechanics of AAA rupture. This includes a summary of results related to ex vivo and in vivo mechanical testing, noninvasive AAA wall stress estimations, and potential mechanisms of AAA wall weakening. We conclude with a demonstration of a biomechanics-based approach to predicting AAA rupture on a patient-specific basis, which may ultimately prove to be superior to the widely and currently used maximum diameter criterion. (Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2005;25:1558-1566.)