Influence of arterial geometry on a model for the growth rate of atheromas

VALERIA C. GESSAGHI; MARCELO A RASCHI; CARLOS ALBERTO PERAZZO; AXEL E LARRETEGUY

San Juan

Congreso; XVI Congreso Argentino de Bioingeniería; 2007

Sociedad Argentina de Bioingeniería

Atherosclerosis is a disease that affects medium and large size arteries and it can partially or totally obstruct blood flow through them. The lack of blood supply to the heart or the brain can cause an infarct or a stroke with fatal consequences or permanent effects. This disease involves the proliferation of cells and the accumulation of fat, cholesterol, cell debris, calcium and other substances in the artery wall. Such accumulation results in the formation of atherosclerotic plaques called atheromas, which may cause the obstruction of the blood flow. Cardiovascular diseases, among which atherosclerosis is the most frequent, are the first cause of death in developed countries. The published works in the subject suggest that hemodynamic forces on arterial walls have influence on the localization, initial development and growth rate of atheromas. This paper presents a model for this growth rate, and explores the influence of the bifurcation angle on the blood flow patterns and on the predictions of the model in a simplified carotid artery. The choice of the carotid bifurcation as the subject for this study obeys the fact that atheromas in this artery are often responsible for strokes. Our model predicts a larger initial growth rate in the external walls of the bifurcation and smaller growth area and lower growth rates as the bifurcation angle is increased. The reason for this seems to be the appearance of helical flow patterns as the angle is increased.