title: Flow patterns and wall shear stress distribution in human internal carotid arteries: the geometric effect on the risk for stenoses.
abstract: It has been widely observed that atherosclerotic stenosis occurs at sites with complex hemodynamics, such as arteries with high curvature or bifurcations. These regions usually have very low or highly oscillatory wall shear stress (WSS). In the present study, 3D sinusoidally pulsatile blood flow through the models of internal carotid artery (ICA) with different geometries was investigated with computational simulation. Three preferred sites of stenoses were found along the carotid siphon with low and highly oscillatory WSS. The risk for stenoses at these sites was scaled with the values of time-averaged WSS and oscillating shear index (OSI). The local risk for stenoses at every preferred site of stenoses was found different between 3 types of ICA, indicating that the geometry of the blood vessel plays significant roles in the atherogenesis. Specifically, the large curvature and planarity of the vessel were found to increase the risk for stenoses, because they tend to lower WSS and elevate OSI. Therefore, the geometric study makes it possible to estimate the stenosis location in the ICA siphon as long as the shape of ICA was measured.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for Biomechanics and Mechanobiology of Ministry of Education, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Haidian District, Beijing 100191, PR China.
authors.forename: Chi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Sheng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Shuyu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pu
authors.forename: Xiaoyan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: Yubo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Deyu
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000502:physiology; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*; D002343:Carotid Artery, Internal / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003251:Constriction, Pathologic / Q000503:physiopathology*; D020342:Finite Element Analysis; D006439:Hemodynamics / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008955:Models, Cardiovascular; D011673:Pulsatile Flow / Q000502:physiology; D012039:Regional Blood Flow / Q000502:physiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D033081:Shear Strength / Q000502:physiology*; D013314:Stress, Mechanical