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(Stroke. 2004;35:2013.)
© 2004 American Heart Association, Inc.

Letters to the Editor

Wall Viscosity of the Stented Arteries

R.L. Armentano, PhD

Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and, Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay

E.I. Cabrera Fischer, MD

Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina, and, CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina

D. Bia Santana

Departamento de Fisiología, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay

D. Craiem

Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

To the Editor:

In the November 2003 issue of Stroke, Vernhet and colleagues reported a clinical analysis of wall mechanics in stented extracranial carotid arteries, and they concluded that stenting of these arteries induces a compliance mismatch between the native and the stented artery. Additionally, the authors observed a significant decrease in the distensibility coefficient of the stented region.¹ These are remarkable findings and are in accordance with others, in which the mismatch observed between the mechanical properties of the prosthetic graft and that of the adjacent native artery is conducive to the development of distal anastomotic intimal hyperplasia.²

However, the study of Vernhet and coworkers did not reflect wall mechanics of stented carotid arteries as is suggested in the title. A complete mechanical study involves a characterization of geometric, elastic, and viscous properties of the arteries that can be performed in patients on the basis of noninvasive recordings of pressure and diameter pulses as previously reported.³ Actually, viscoelastic properties of the arterial wall play a significant role both in normal and pathological vessels, and are better characterized by indices such as the incremental elastic modulus (Einc) and Peterson modulus (Ep), because these are not affected by dimensional changes.⁴

As published, pressure wave propagation in arteries depends on both elastic and viscous parameters counterbalancing possible instability phenomena.⁵ Arterial wall elasticity is found to be related to the amplitude of oscillations whereas viscosity attenuates high frequency pulsations. Consequently, the mechanical response of a viscoelastic material depends both on the force . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Helene Vernhet, MD, PhD; Beatrix Jean, MD; Stephan Lust, MD; Jean Pierre Laroche, MD; Alain Bonafé, MD; I. Quéré, MD, PhD; Jean Paul Sénac, MD Michel Dauzat, MD, PhD

Laboratory of Cardiovascular Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Montpellier University Hospital Center, Montpellier-Nimes, France