Possibility of atherosclerosis in an arterial bifurcation model

Arterial bifurcations are susceptible locations for formation of atherosclerotic plaques. In the present study, steady blood flow is investigated in a bifurcation model with a non-planar branch.

The influence of different bifurcation angles and non-planar branch is demonstrated on wall shear stress (WSS) distribution using three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations.

The WSS values are low in two locations at the top and bottom walls of the mother vessels just before the bifurcation, especially for higher bifurcation angles. These regions approach the apex of bifurcation with decreasing the bifurcation angle. The WSS magnitudes approach near to zero at the outer side of bifurcation plane and these locations are separation-prone. By increasing the bifurcation angle, the minimum WSS decreases at the outer side of bifurcation plane but low WSS region squeezes. WSS peaks exist on the inner side of bifurcation plane near the entry section of daughter vessels and these initial peaks drop as bifurcation angle is increased.

It is concluded that the non-planarity of the daughter vessel lowers the minimum WSS at the outer side of bifurcation and increases the maximum WSS at the inner side. So it seems that the formation of atherosclerotic plaques at bifurcation region in direction of non-planar daughter vessel is more risky.