title: Development of a patient-specific simulation tool to analyse aortic dissections: assessment of mixed patient-specific flow and pressure boundary conditions.
abstract: Aortic dissection has high morbidity and mortality rates and guidelines regarding surgical intervention are not clearly defined. The treatment of aortic dissection varies with each patient and detailed knowledge of haemodynamic and mechanical forces would be advantageous in the process of choosing a course of treatment. In this study, a patient-specific dissected aorta geometry is constructed from computed tomography scans. Dynamic boundary conditions are implemented by coupling a three element Windkessel model to the 3D domain at each outlet, in order to capture the essential behaviour of the downstream vasculature. The Windkessel model parameters are defined based on clinical data. The predicted minimum and maximum pressures are close to those measured invasively. Malperfusion is indicated and complex flow patterns are observed. Pressure, flow and wall shear stress distributions are analysed. The methodology presented here provides insight into the haemodynamics in a patient-specific dissected aorta and represents a development towards the use of CFD simulations as a diagnostic tool for aortic dissection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University College London, WC1E 7JE, UK.
authors.forename: Mona
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alimohammadi
authors.affiliation: University College London Hospital, NW1 2BU, UK.
authors.forename: Obiekezie
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Agu
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University College London, WC1E 7JE, UK.
authors.forename: Stavroula
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Balabani
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University College London, WC1E 7JE, UK. Electronic address: v.diaz@ucl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Vanessa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Díaz-Zuccarini
mesh_terms: D000784:Aortic Dissection / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001011:Aorta / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001014:Aortic Aneurysm / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D057446:Hydrodynamics; D008954:Models, Biological; D057285:Precision Medicine; D011312:Pressure; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
keywords: Aortic dissection; Blood flow; CFD; Patient-specific simulation; Windkessel model