A computational fluid dynamics study pre- and post-fistula closure in a coronary artery fistula

Abstract

This study numerically investigated the hemodynamics of a patient-specific coronary artery fistula (CAF) before and after the fistula closure. The results indicated that the dilated fistula result in inadequate perfusion to other healthy aortas. Disturbed blood flow, aberrant WSSs, local negative pressure gradients and sharp pressure changes are shown in both untreated and occluded fistula. Furthermore, extreme high WSS appeared at the fistula bending after the terminal closure. It was concluded that the fistula closure may effectively improve the phenomenon of stealing blood but worsen the unfavorable hemodyanmics predisposing the thrombosis formation due to its geometrical torturosity.

KEYWORDS:

• Coronary artery fistula
• thrombosis
• wall shear stress
• hemodynamics
• computational fluid dynamics

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Sichuan Province Science and Technology Support plan [grant number 2016FZ0107]; the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 81601462]; and the Sichuan Provincial Health and Family Planning Commission Scientific Research Project (Key Research Projects) [grant number No. 16ZD013].