title: Interplay of Proximal Flow Confluence and Distal Flow Divergence in Patient-Specific Vertebrobasilar System.
abstract: Approximately one-quarter of ischemic strokes involve the vertebrobasilar arterial system that includes the upstream flow confluence and downstream flow divergence. A patient-specific hemodynamic analysis is needed to understand the posterior circulation. The objective of this study is to determine the distribution of hemodynamic parameters in the vertebrobasilar system, based on computer tomography angiography images. Here, the interplay of upstream flow confluence and downstream flow divergence was hypothesized to be a determinant factor for the hemodynamic distribution in the vertebrobasilar system. A computational fluid dynamics model was used to compute the flow fields in patient-specific vertebrobasilar models (n = 6). The inlet and outlet boundary conditions were the aortic pressure waveform and flow resistances, respectively. A 50% reduction of total outlet area was found to induce a ten-fold increase in surface area ratio of low time-averaged wall shear stress (i.e., TAWSS ≤ 4 dynes/cm2). This study enhances our understanding of the posterior circulation associated with the incidence of atherosclerotic plaques.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging, The Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoping
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanics and Engineering Science, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China.|State Key Laboratory for Turbulence and Complex Systems, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanics and Engineering Science, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China.|State Key Laboratory for Turbulence and Complex Systems, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yundi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanics and Engineering Science, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China.|State Key Laboratory for Turbulence and Complex Systems, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China.|Shenzhen Graduate School, Peking University, Shenzhen, China.
authors.forename: Wenchang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging, The Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China.
authors.forename: Huaijun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanics and Engineering Science, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China.|State Key Laboratory for Turbulence and Complex Systems, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China.|College of Medicine, Hebei University, Baoding, China.
authors.forename: Yunlong
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4121-3224
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000072226:Computed Tomography Angiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014715:Vertebrobasilar Insufficiency / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*