Direct modeling of blood flow through the vascular network of the germinal matrix

A premature birth, before completion of the 32nd pregnancy week, increases the risk of cerebral hemorrhage. The cause of brain bleeding is very often the germinal matrix of the immature brain. The germinal matrix consists of richly vascularized neuroepithelial cells and is located over the lower part of the head of the caudate nucleus. By 32-36 gestation weeks, the germinal matrix essentially disappears so that its hemorrhage is a disease of premature infants. The aim of this paper consists in developing a model of the brain vascular network and computing the pressure distribution in the germinal matrix, particularly near arterioles and venules, where cerebral hemorrhage may occur. Capillary networks consisting of several millions of vessels are directly simulated in the present study.