title: Assessment of vascular wall shear stress and implications for atherosclerotic disease.
abstract: Mechanical characteristics of circulation and vasculature, such as blood flow in combination with geometrical features, participate in the generation of several pathophysiological processes, such as development of blood vessel structure, chronic vessel tone regulation, atherosclerosis and others. We aim to briefly describe the basic mechanical and haemodynamic phenomena related to the forces applied to arterial walls, especially shear stresses and the shear-induced physiologic and pathophysiologic processes focusing on those related to atherosclerotic disease.
authors.affiliation: Unit of Biomedical Engineering, First Department of Cardiology, Hippocration Hospital, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Iak. Patatsou 13, Nea Kipseli, 113 63 Athens, Greece. theopap@mail.ntua.gr
authors.forename: Theodore G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: Papaioannou
authors.forename: Emmanouil N
authors.initials: EN
authors.lastname: Karatzis
authors.forename: Manolis
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vavuranakis
authors.forename: John P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Lekakis
authors.forename: Christodoulos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Stefanadis
mesh_terms: D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000209:etiology*; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D013314:Stress, Mechanical