Track: Computational Fluid Dynamics

Abstract

Plaque formation in coronary arteries reduces coronary flow reserve, which can cause myocardial infarction in severe conditions. It is well established that wall shear stress (WSS) and wall shear stress gradient (WSSG) is the dominant factor behind atherosclerosis. Also, the bifurcations are of special interest as both maximum and minimum values of WSS are present in the vicinity. In this study, CFD simulations are performed over a large coronary network with actual spatial geometry developed from CT scan dataset. Lower shear stresses are found at the outer side of more diverging daughter vessel posterior to bifurcations. Murray’s exponent and bifurcation angle are found as the dominating factors of shear stress distribution while curvature and spatial geometry played a minor role. The results agree with the previously reported clinical data. This study compares the relative hemodynamic condition over a sufficiently large portion of the coronary tree with actual geometry and predicts the behavior of vulnerable bifurcations. The modelling technique can be used for simulating different diseased conditions and helping physicians to take better judgmental decisions with non-invasive measures.Plaque formation in coronary arteries reduces coronary flow reserve, which can cause myocardial infarction in severe conditions. It is well established that wall shear stress (WSS) and wall shear stress gradient (WSSG) is the dominant factor behind atherosclerosis. Also, the bifurcations are of special interest as both maximum and minimum values of WSS are present in the vicinity. In this study, CFD simulations are performed over a large coronary network with actual spatial geometry developed from CT scan dataset. Lower shear stresses are found at the outer side of more diverging daughter vessel posterior to bifurcations. Murray’s exponent and bifurcation angle are found as the dominating factors of shear stress distribution while curvature and spatial geometry played a minor role. The results agree with the previously reported clinical data. This study compares the relative hemodynamic condition over a sufficiently large portion of the coronary tree with actual geometry and predicts the behavior of vulnerable bifurcations. The modeling technique can be used for simulating different diseased conditions and helping physicians to take better judgmental decisions with non-invasive measures.