This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. Our work focuses on characterizing the hemodynamic environment of the abdominal aorta in the setting of chronic spinal cord injury (SCI), an independent risk factor for abdominal aortic aneurysm. We have hypothesized that a unique, pro-aneurysmal, hemodynamic environment exists in the SCI abdominal aorta as a result of chronic non-ambulation, lower-extremity arterial atrophy, and high distal resistance. We image the abdominal aorta in supine, resting non-ambulatory SCI and ambulatory control subjects in the Lucas Center's 1.5T GE magnet, using magnetic resonance angiography (MRA), phase contrast MRI (PC-MRI), and fast gradient echo sequences to evaluate aortic wall motion. Since June 2008 we have scanned two SCI patients, bringing our total to 6 SCI and 6 control subjects with adequate scan data, and since then have focused our efforts primarily on data analysis.
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