What is the clinical evidence from this study?

Study design: Other. Population: Coarctation of the aorta (n=48). Intervention: Surgically induced coarctation of the aorta vs. Control group. Primary outcome: Strain energy (arterial stiffness) and constitutive material parameters.

What does this research mean for the field?

Surgically induced coarctation of the aorta causes severity- and duration-dependent proximal aortic stiffening that is effectively captured by Yeoh and linear elastic model parameters. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.NOVEL_FINDING. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.SUPPORTS_CONSENSUS.

What question did this study set out to answer?

The aim is to evaluate how severity and duration of aortic coarctation affect stiffening and identify parameters that could serve as biomarkers for hypertension progression.

April 17, 2026Open Access

Severity and duration-dependent aortic stiffening in a rabbit coarctation model identifies constitutive material parameters as promising regional biomarkers for hypertension progression

Key Result

Surgically induced coarctation of the aorta in rabbits caused severity- and duration-dependent proximal aortic stiffening effectively captured by Yeoh and linear elastic model parameters.

Key Points

The aim is to evaluate how severity and duration of aortic coarctation affect stiffening and identify parameters that could serve as biomarkers for hypertension progression.
Created mild, intermediate, and severe coarctation in rabbits for varying durations (1, 3, or 22 weeks)
Quantified mechanical responses using multiple constitutive models (e.g., Linear Elastic, Yeoh, Holzapfel)
Evaluated model performance via RMSE and R², and assessed reproducibility with bootstrap methods
Marked aortic stiffening was observed proximally across CoA severities and durations
Yeoh model excelled in coupling parameters to strain energy, while Holzapfel-Isotropic captured nonlinear stress behaviors
Severity and duration were significant predictors of aortic stiffening, correlating with hypertension features

Structured PICO

How do severity and duration of aortic coarctation affect regional aortic stiffening and constitutive material parameters in a rabbit model?

Population

Rabbit model of coarctation of the aorta (CoA) with mild (≤ 12 mmHg), intermediate (13–20 mmHg), and severe (> 20 mmHg) severities

Intervention

Creation of CoA for short (~ 1 week), long (~ 3 weeks), and prolonged (~ 22 weeks) durations

Outcome

Mechanical responses (stress-stretch curves) and constitutive parameters capturing stiffening across clinical severities and durationssurrogate

Severity and duration of aortic coarctation are significant predictors of regional aortic stiffening, which can be effectively modeled using Yeoh and linear elastic parameters to potentially inform risk stratification and intervention timing.

Limitations

Structural orientation of the collagen fibers was not independently measured
Complex model parameter estimates are prone to non-uniqueness and overfitting

Abstract

Coarctation of the aorta (CoA) alters hemodynamics and drives regional remodeling, yet the influence of severity and duration on constitutive properties is undefined. We quantified mechanical responses from CoA to identify constitutive parameters capturing stiffening across clinical severities and durations. Mild (≤ 12 mmHg), intermediate (13–20 mmHg), and severe (> 20 mmHg) CoA was created in rabbits for short, long, and prolonged durations (~ 1, 3, or 22 weeks, respectively). Stress–stretch curves from proximal and distal regions were fit with multiple constitutive models (Linear Elastic, Neo-Hookean, Yeoh, Ogden, Mooney–Rivlin, Holzapfel). Model performance was evaluated by normalized RMSE and R², with reproducibility assessed using bootstrap stability of strain energy–parameter coupling. Deterministic models were compared with multi-parameter hyperelastic formulations. Marked stiffening presented proximally for several CoA severities and durations, but was limited to pronounced sustained CoA distally. Yeoh provided reliable coupling between parameters and strain energy, whereas Holzapfel–Isotropic best captured nonlinear stress–stretch behavior. Within physiological ranges, linear elastic and Yeoh fits approximated stiffness effectively. Severity and duration were significant predictors of stiffening, consistent with findings linking these CoA features to hypertension. Yeoh and linear elastic model parameters are suitable as simplified CoA markers of induced proximal stiffening, while complex formulations capture full nonlinear behavior. These parameters align clinically with proximal remodeling and reduced compliance. They may ultimately inform risk stratification including intervention timing thresholds, as well as growth-and-remodeling and AI-based temporal approaches to forecast irreversible stiffening for personalized intervention with CoA patients.

Bookmark

View Full Paper