Biomechanics of vascular occlusion in neurosurgery.

Abstract

Principle factors involved in effective vascular occlusion were identified and incorporated into a computer program designed to calculate the minimal occlusion force (MOF) in accordance with a modified version of Laplace's law. In vivo, the carotid arteries of 14 guinea pigs were occluded for one hour at an experimentally determined MOF or MOF + 50. A good correlation was found between the computed MOF and the experimentally determined MOF. Scanning electron microscopic (SEM) examination of the endothelium of the occluded vessels revealed extensive damage with forces greater than the MOF.