Numerical study of hemodynamic flow in the aortic vessel of Williams syndrome patient with congenital heart disease

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Research
• Biomedical Engineering
• Pediatric Cardiology

Background:

• Congenital arterial stenosis, particularly supravalvar aortic stenosis (SVAS) in Williams syndrome (WS), presents significant health risks.
• Current methods for assessing stenosis severity are limited by physiological variability and patient age, especially in pediatric populations.
• Accurate evaluation of congenital heart defects (CHDs) necessitates detailed intracardiac blood flow analysis, which is challenging with existing imaging techniques.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of surgical intervention in correcting severe aortic defects in a patient with Williams syndrome.
• To analyze alterations in blood flow dynamics and cardiac function post-surgery using a novel computational framework.
• To quantify reductions in hemodynamic stress markers and cardiac workload following surgical correction.

Main Methods:

• Development of a computational framework integrating zero-dimensional (0D) lumped parameter models with patient-specific 3D geometries.
• Execution of computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations on pre- and post-surgical patient data.
• Analysis of key hemodynamic parameters including wall shear stress (WSS), maximum velocity, and pressure gradients.

Main Results:

• Surgical intervention led to significant reductions in wall shear stress (WSS) and maximum velocity magnitude.
• The computational framework successfully visualized complex blood flow patterns and hemodynamic changes.
• Post-surgical assessment indicated a decreased pressure drop across the aortic defect and a reduced cardiac workload.

Conclusions:

• Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) coupled with lumped parameter models provides a robust method for assessing surgical efficacy in complex congenital heart defects.
• This approach offers valuable insights into the impact of surgical correction on intracardiac hemodynamics and cardiac function.
• The framework holds promise for improving the management and follow-up of patients with Williams syndrome and other arteriopathies.