How arterial pressures affect the consideration of internal carotid artery angle as a risk factor for carotid artherosclerotic disease
by Matthew D. Sinnott; Paul W. Cleary; Simon M. Harrison; Sharen J. Cummins; Richard Beare; Velandai Srikanth; Thanh G. Phan
Progress in Computational Fluid Dynamics, An International Journal (PCFD), Vol. 15, No. 2, 2015

Abstract: Patient-specific geometric factors together with traditional risk factors may aid the early identification of patients at high risk of developing carotid artery disease requiring surgical intervention. Recent studies have linked aspects of carotid geometry to the pathogenesis of internal carotid artery (ICA) stenosis. Abnormal wall shear stress (WSS) is found for large ICA angles. Low WSS is believed to correspond to plaque formation whereas high WSS may result in plaque rupture and clotting. Here, the meshless method, smoothed particle hydrodynamics, is used to simulate Newtonian flow through a clinical, rigid walled, carotid bifurcation. The resulting flow field and WSS are reported for a range of different ICA angles. Varying the angle without changing boundary pressure conditions produces minimal change in flow and WSS. Greater ICA downstream pressures appear important for maintaining well-behaved flow through the bifurcation by suppressing flow separation downstream of the stenosis resulting in more uniform wall stress.

Online publication date: Mon, 13-Apr-2015

The full text of this article is only available to individual subscribers or to users at subscribing institutions.

 
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.

Pay per view:
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.

Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the Progress in Computational Fluid Dynamics, An International Journal (PCFD):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:

Username:        Password:          Forgotten your password?

Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.

If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com