Aortic valve leaflet wall shear stress characterization revisited: impact of coronary flow

Computational characterizations of aortic valve hemodynamics have typically discarded the effects of coronary flow. The objective of this study was to complement our previous fluid–structure interaction aortic valve model with a physiologic coronary circulation model to quantify the impact of coronary flow on aortic sinus hemodynamics and leaflet wall shear stress (WSS). Coronary flow suppressed vortex development in the two coronary sinuses and altered WSS magnitude and directionality on the three leaflets, with the most substantial differences occurring in the belly and tip regions.

主动脉瓣血流动力学的计算表征研究通常会忽略冠状动脉血流的影响。本研究旨在通过引入生理冠状动脉循环模型，对我们此前的流固耦合主动脉瓣模型进行补充，从而量化冠状动脉血流对主动脉窦血流动力学及瓣膜小叶壁面切应力（wall shear stress, WSS）的影响。研究结果表明，冠状动脉血流会抑制两个冠状动脉窦内的涡流形成，并改变三个瓣膜小叶上的壁面切应力大小与方向，其中差异最为显著的区域为瓣体与瓣尖部位。