Chronic changes in experimental saccular and fusiform aneurysms in rabbits.

Saccular aneurysms were fashioned on the common carotid artery in 22 rabbits and on the abdominal aorta in seven rabbits, using the venous pouch technique. Fusiform aneurysms were fashioned on the common carotid artery in four rabbits, using a venous graft. With the rabbits on a stock diet for up to 34 months, the aneurysms enlarged and displayed severe phlebosclerosis, including fibrosis, calcification, ossification, mural thrombosis, and lipid deposition similar to atherosclerosis. The experiments reveal that hemodynamic stress predisposes experimental aneurysms in rabbits on a stock diet to the development of degenerative changes that resemble human atherosclerosis.