Blood flow patterns in an anatomically realistic coronary vessel: influence of three different reconstruction methods

Many clinical studies suggest that local blood flow patterns are involved in the location and development of atherosclerosis. In coronary diseases, this assumption should be corroborated by quantitative information on local hemodynamic parameters such as pressure, velocity or wall shear stress. Nowadays, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) algorithms coupled to realistic 3-D reconstructions of such vessels make these data accessible. Nevertheless, they should be carefully analysed to avoid misinterpretations when the physiological parameters are not all considered. As an example, we propose here to compare the flow patterns calculated in a coronary vessel reconstructed by three different methods. In the three cases, the vessel trajectory respected the physiology. In the simplest reconstruction, the coronary was modelled by a tube of constant diameter while in the most complex one, the cross-sections corresponded to the reality. We showed that local pressures, wall shear rates and velocity profiles were severely affected by the geometrical modifications. In the constant cross-section vessel, the flow resembled to that of Poiseuille in a straight tube. On the contrary, velocity and shear rate exhibited sudden local variations in the more realistic vessels. As an example, velocity could be multiplied by 5 as compared to Poiseuille's flow and area of very low wall shear rates appeared. The results obtained with the most complex model clearly outlined that, in addition to a proper description of the vessel trajectory, the section area changes should be carefully taken into account, confirming assumptions already highlighted before the rise of commercially available and efficient CFD softwares.