Animal models of abdominal aortic aneurysm and their role in furthering management of human disease

Abdominal aortic aneurysm is a common degenerative disorder associated with sudden death due to aortic rupture. Current therapy is limited to open surgical repair of the aorta or endovascular placement of covered stents to exclude the abdominal aortic aneurysm from the circulation. A number of different animal models have been developed in order to study abdominal aortic aneurysm in an effort to advance current management deficiencies. Large animal models have been mostly used to assist in developing novel methods to surgically treat abdominal aortic aneurysms. Small animal models, particularly those developed in rodents, have been employed to further the understanding of the mechanisms involved in abdominal aortic aneurysm in order to identify potential new medical treatments. It is expected that findings from these animal models will contribute importantly to new treatments for human abdominal aortic aneurysm. This review explores the animal models which are used in abdominal aortic aneurysm research and highlights their advantages and disadvantages.