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The Impact of the Right Coronary Artery Geometric Parameters on Hemodynamic Performance

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Abstract

Purpose

Coronary artery geometry can have a significant impact in the hemodynamic behavior of coronary blood flow, influencing atherosclerotic plaque formation. The present work focuses on, through a statistical study, the connection between several geometric parameters of the right coronary artery—ostium cross-sectional area, angles between the common trunk and the side-branches, tortuosity, curvature and cross-sectional area in each side-branch—and their influence on hemodynamic descriptors. Parameters such as low wall shear stress and local disturbed flow, which are associated with atherosclerosis formation, were analysed.

Methods

Computed tomography images of ten healthy individuals were selected to reconstruct in vivo three-dimensional models of right coronary arteries. Blood flow was simulated through a compliant model with realistic boundary conditions. Calculated hemodynamic descriptors values were correlated with the geometric parameters using the Pearson correlation coefficient (r) and the p value.

Results

The strongest correlations were found in the middle and distal segments of the right coronary artery. A decrease in the ostium area promotes a decrease in the WSS magnitude from the proximal to the distal segment (r = 0.82). Very strong correlations (r > 0.90) were achieved between geometric parameters (cross-sectional area, angle, tortuosity) of the right-ventricular branch and the wall shear stress magnitude in the middle and distal segments.

Conclusions

Low values of tortuosity, smaller cross-sectional area and higher angle of the right-ventricular branch leads to a hemodynamic behavior more propitious to atherosclerosis formation, within the study cases. The right-ventricular branch seems to have the highest influence in the hemodynamic behavior of the right coronary artery.

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Acknowledgments

Authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), Portugal, the Engineering Faculty of University of Porto (FEUP), the Institute of Science and Innovation in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (LAETA-INEGI), the Cardiovascular R&D Unit of the Medicine Faculty of University of Porto (FMUP) and the Cardiology Department of Gaia/Espinho Hospital Centre.

Conflict of interest

Authors declare that they have not any actual or potential conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000 (5).

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Engineering Faculty, University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, s/n, 4200-465, Porto, Portugal

    L. C. Sousa, C. F. Castro, C. C. António & S. I. S. Pinto

  2. Institute of Science and Innovation in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (LAETA-INEGI), Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 400, 4200-465, Porto, Portugal

    N. Pinho, L. C. Sousa, C. F. Castro, C. C. António & S. I. S. Pinto

  3. Cardiovascular R&D Unit, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Alameda Prof. Hernâni Monteiro, 4200-319, Porto, Portugal

    R. Ladeiras-Lopes & N. Bettencourt

  4. Department of Cardiology, Gaia/Espinho Hospital Centre, Rua Conceição Fernandes, s/n, 4434-502, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal

    M. Carvalho, W. Ferreira, R. Ladeiras-Lopes, N. D. Ferreira & P. Braga

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Correspondence to S. I. S. Pinto.

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Associate Editor Sarah Vigmostad and Ajit P. Yoganathan oversaw the review of this article.

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Pinho, N., Sousa, L.C., Castro, C.F. et al. The Impact of the Right Coronary Artery Geometric Parameters on Hemodynamic Performance. Cardiovasc Eng Tech 10, 257–270 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13239-019-00403-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13239-019-00403-8

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