Effects of stenosis on the porcine left anterior descending arterial tree.

Abstract

In this study, hemodynamics in the normal and diseased left anterior descending (LAD) arterial trees were compared to estimate the effects of stenosis on the flow rate distribution, detailed flow field and wall shear stress (WSS) distributions on both transient and steady flow conditions. The anatomical model was reconstructed from computed tomography (CT) images of a normal porcine heart. Stenosis was imposed at the trunk of LAD tree with different area stenosis ratios (25%, 50%, 75% and 90%) to study the effect of stenosis. It has been found that the steady-state simulation is competent to demonstrate the prominent flow features of transit flow. Only significant stenosis altered the flow rate considerably, and its effects diminished at the downstream bifurcations. Based on the WSS distribution, non-significant stenosis potentially led to the development of atherosclerosis near the ostium of the downstream side branch and significant stenosis might promote atherosclerosis in its wake.