A new observation on the stress distribution in the coronary artery wall

The stress distribution in the vessel wall has an important bearing on vascular function in health and disease. We studied the relationship between the transmural stress distribution and the opening angle (OA) to determine the stress gradient. The simulation of wall stress was based on transmural measurements of strain and material properties of coronary arteries in reference to the zero-stress state. A one-layer model with material constants of the intact vessel was used to calculate the circumferential stress distribution. A sensitivity analysis using both one- and two-layer models (intima-media and adventitia layers) was carried out to study the effect of the OA on the circumferential stress distribution and average circumferential stress. A larger OA always shifts the circumferential stress from the intima-media to the adventitia layer. We report a new observation that the circumferential stress at the adventitia may exceed that at the intima at physiological loading due to the larger OA in the porcine coronary artery. This has important implications for growth and remodeling, where an increase in opening angle may shift excessive stress from the inner layer to the outer layer.