Elizabeth Iffrig 
BME Ph.D. Defense Presentation
Date: Friday, June 17th 2016

Time: 10:00 AM
Location: Emory University, WMRB 5101 
 
Advisors:
W. Robert Taylor, MD PhD (Emory University/Georgia Insitute of Technology)

John N. Oshinski PhD (Emory University/Georgia Institute of Technology)
Committee Members:
C. Ross Ethier, PhD (Georgia Institute of Technology)

Jay D. Humphrey, PhD (Yale University)
Gail Peters, MD (Emory University)
Alessandro Veneziani, PhD (Emory University)

Title:
" The influence of sex-dependent vascular properties on aortic hemodynamics"

Abstract:

Differences in the incidence and prognosis of abdominal aortic aneurysms between men and women remain unexplained and insufficiently explored. While men are 4-5 times more likely to develop the disease, women are more likely to experience complications. Currently, screening for abdominal aortic aneurysms in women is not recommended due to the low incidence of the disease. However it remains clear that some women do develop the disease and for those who do, the consequences can be dire. Identification of risk factors beyond those classically associated with aneurysm development could be critical in improving how we care for women. We recruited healthy men and women and used MRI to quantify abdominal aortic hemodynamics to assess if men are exposed to more pro-inflammatory wall shear stress than women. We evaluated innate vascular properties that we expected to both exert control over aortic hemodynamics and to be significant different between the sexes. We used non-contrast angiograms to assess curvature and size of the aorta and to assess if either of these affected the extent of pro-inflammatory oscillatory shear. In light of the increased risk for aneurysms in patients with above the knee amputations and spinal cord injuries, we assessed differences in peripheral resistance between the sexes as mediated by uterine artery flow and measured by internal iliac artery flow oscillations. To do this, we recruited patients with uterine fibroids and hysterectomies whom we expected to have altered uterine artery resistance profiles. Finally we used a novel MRI sequence application to measure displacement and strain in the aortic wall and assess differences between the men and women.