Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulations of Intracranial Aneurysms at Varying Heart Rates: A “Patient-Specific” Study

2009 ◽  
Vol 131 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingfeng Jiang ◽  
Charles Strother

Rupture of an intracranial aneurysm (IA) is frequently associated with intense physical exertion and/or emotional excitement, events that are typically also accompanied by sudden significant changes in both heart rate and blood pressure. Very few experimental studies of aneurysm hemodynamics have examined the impact on hemodynamic parameters in and around an aneurysm resulting from changes in heart rate. In order to further understanding these changes, as they relate to hemodynamic features that may contribute to rupture of an IA, we examined the characteristics of pulsatile flow in and around two “patient-specific” intracranial aneurysms at three different cardiac frequencies. Three dimensional X-ray angiographic data (3D-DSA) were used to reconstruct accurate and patient-specific aneurysm geometries. Then, computational fluid dynamics techniques were utilized to analyze the characteristics of blood flow in and around the two aneurysms. Physiologically realistic flow conditions, as measured by transcranial Doppler ultrasound, were used in the simulations. Our results showed that there were significant changes in the overall flow patterns (e.g., vortex formation and translation) associated with the changes of heart rates. In both aneurysms, the calculated wall shear stress exhibited substantial increases with an increase in heart rate. Our results suggest that the changes in local hemodynamic forces associated with variations in heart rate are dependent not only on the heart rate but also on the aneurysm geometry. This thus precludes applying our observations about the impact of variations in cardiac rate to aneurysms in general.

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 1348
Author(s):  
Karol Wiśniewski ◽  
Bartłomiej Tomasik ◽  
Zbigniew Tyfa ◽  
Piotr Reorowicz ◽  
Ernest Bobeff ◽  
...  

Background: The objective of our project was to identify a late recanalization predictor in ruptured intracranial aneurysms treated with coil embolization. This goal was achieved by means of a statistical analysis followed by a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) with porous media modelling approach. Porous media CFD simulated the hemodynamics within the aneurysmal dome after coiling. Methods: Firstly, a retrospective single center analysis of 66 aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage patients was conducted. The authors assessed morphometric parameters, packing density, first coil volume packing density (1st VPD) and recanalization rate on digital subtraction angiograms (DSA). The effectiveness of initial endovascular treatment was visually determined using the modified Raymond–Roy classification directly after the embolization and in a 6- and 12-month follow-up DSA. In the next step, a comparison between porous media CFD analyses and our statistical results was performed. A geometry used during numerical simulations based on a patient-specific anatomy, where the aneurysm dome was modelled as a separate, porous domain. To evaluate hemodynamic changes, CFD was utilized for a control case (without any porosity) and for a wide range of porosities that resembled 1–30% of VPD. Numerical analyses were performed in Ansys CFX solver. Results: A multivariate analysis showed that 1st VPD affected the late recanalization rate (p < 0.001). Its value was significantly greater in all patients without recanalization (p < 0.001). Receiver operating characteristic curves governed by the univariate analysis showed that the model for late recanalization prediction based on 1st VPD (AUC 0.94 (95%CI: 0.86–1.00) is the most important predictor of late recanalization (p < 0.001). A cut-off point of 10.56% (sensitivity—0.722; specificity—0.979) was confirmed as optimal in a computational fluid dynamics analysis. The CFD results indicate that pressure at the aneurysm wall and residual flow volume (blood volume with mean fluid velocity > 0.01 m/s) within the aneurysmal dome tended to asymptotically decrease when VPD exceeded 10%. Conclusions: High 1st VPD decreases the late recanalization rate in ruptured intracranial aneurysms treated with coil embolization (according to our statistical results > 10.56%). We present an easy intraoperatively calculable predictor which has the potential to be used in clinical practice as a tip to improve clinical outcomes.


2013 ◽  
Vol 34 (9) ◽  
pp. 1785-1791 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. van Ooij ◽  
J.J. Schneiders ◽  
H.A. Marquering ◽  
C.B. Majoie ◽  
E. van Bavel ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Michele Conti ◽  
Rodrigo M Romarowski ◽  
Anna Ferrarini ◽  
Matteo Stochino ◽  
Ferdinando Auricchio ◽  
...  

Abstract OBJECTIVES Transcatheter aortic root repair (TARR) consists of the simultaneous endovascular replacement of the aortic valve, the root and the proximal ascending aorta. The aim of the study is to set-up a computational model of TARR to explore the impact of the endovascular procedure on the coronary circulation supported by chimney grafts. METHODS Computed tomography of a patient with dilated ascending aorta was segmented to obtain a 3-dimensional representation of the proximal thoracic aorta, including aortic root and supra-aortic branches. Computed assisted design tools were used to modify the geometry to create the post-procedural TARR configuration featuring the main aortic endograft integrated with 2 chimney grafts for coronary circulation. Computational Fluid Dynamics simulations were run in both pre- and post-procedural configurations using a pulsatile inflow and lumped parameter models at the outflows to simulate peripheral aortic and coronary circulation. Differences in coronary flow and pressure along the cardiac cycle were evaluated. RESULTS After the virtual implant of the TARR device with coronary grafts, the flow became more organized and less recirculation was seen in the ascending aorta. Coronary perfusion was guaranteed with negligible flow differences between pre- and post-procedural configurations. However, despite being well perfused by chimney grafts, the procedure induces an increase of the pressure drop between the coronary ostia and the ascending aorta of 8 mmHg. CONCLUSIONS The proposed numerical simulations, in the specific case under investigation, suggest that the TARR technique maintains coronary perfusion through the chimney grafts. This study calls for experimental validation and further analyses of the impact of TARR on cardiac afterload, decrease of aortic compliance and local pressure drop induced by the coronary chimney grafts.


2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 1288-1293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafik Ouared ◽  
Ignacio Larrabide ◽  
Olivier Brina ◽  
Pierre Bouillot ◽  
Gorislav Erceg ◽  
...  

Background and purposeFlow-diverter stents (FDSs) have been used effectively to treat large neck and complex saccular aneurysms on the anterior carotid circulation. Intra-aneurysmal flow reduction induces progressive aneurysm thrombosis in most patients. Understanding the degree of flow modification necessary to induce complete aneurysm occlusion among patients with considerable hemodynamics variability may be important for treatment planning.Materials and methodsPatients with incidental intracranial saccular aneurysms who underwent FDS endovascular procedures were included and studied for a 12 months’ follow-up period. We used computational fluid dynamics on patient-specific geometries from 3D rotational angiography without and with virtual stent placement and thus compared intra-aneurysmal hemodynamic problems. Receiver operating characteristic analysis was used to estimate the stent:no-stent minimum hemodynamic ratio thresholds that significantly (p≤0.05) determined the condition necessary for long-term (12 months) aneurysm occlusion.ResultsWe included 12 consecutive patients with sidewall aneurysms located in the internal carotid or vertebral artery. The measured porosity of the 12 deployed virtual FDSs was 83±3% (mean±SD). Nine aneurysms were occluded during the 12 months’ follow-up, whereas three were not. A significant (p=0.05) area under the curve (AUC) was found for spatiotemporal mean velocity reduction in the aneurysms: AUC=0.889±0.113 (mean±SD) corresponding to a minimum velocity reduction threshold of 0.353 for occlusion to occur. The 95% CI of the AUC was 0.66 to 1.00. The sensitivity and specificity of the method were ∼99% and ∼67%, respectively. For both wall shear stress and pressure reductions in aneurysms no thresholds could be determined: AUC=0.63±0.16 (p=0.518) and 0.67±0.165 (p=0.405), respectively.ConclusionsFor successful FDS treatment the post-stent average velocity in sidewall intracranial aneurysms must be reduced by at least one-third from the initial pre-stent conditions.


2020 ◽  
pp. neurintsurg-2020-015993 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehdi Najafi ◽  
Nicole M Cancelliere ◽  
Olivier Brina ◽  
Pierre Bouillot ◽  
Maria I Vargas ◽  
...  

BackgroundComputational fluid dynamics (CFD) has become a popular tool for studying ‘patient-specific’ blood flow dynamics in cerebral aneurysms; however, rarely are the inflow boundary conditions patient-specific. We aimed to test the impact of widespread reliance on generalized inflow rates.MethodsInternal carotid artery (ICA) flow rates were measured via 2D cine phase-contrast MRI for 24 patients scheduled for endovascular therapy of an ICA aneurysm. CFD models were constructed from 3D rotational angiography, and pulsatile inflow rates imposed as measured by MRI or estimated using an average older-adult ICA flow waveform shape scaled by a cycle-average flow rate (Qavg) derived from the patient’s ICA cross-sectional area via an assumed inlet velocity.ResultsThere was good overall qualitative agreement in the magnitudes and spatial distributions of time-averaged wall shear stress (TAWSS), oscillatory shear index (OSI), and spectral power index (SPI) using generalized versus patient-specific inflows. Sac-averaged quantities showed moderate to good correlations: R2=0.54 (TAWSS), 0.80 (OSI), and 0.68 (SPI). Using patient-specific Qavg to scale the generalized waveform shape resulted in near-perfect agreement for TAWSS, and reduced bias, but not scatter, for SPI. Patient-specific waveform had an impact only on OSI correlations, which improved to R2=0.93.ConclusionsAneurysm CFD demonstrates the ability to stratify cases by nominal hemodynamic ‘risk’ factors when employing an age- and vascular-territory-specific recipe for generalized inflow rates. Qavg has a greater influence than waveform shape, suggesting some improvement could be achieved by including measurement of patient-specific Qavg into aneurysm imaging protocols.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 520
Author(s):  
Emily R. Nordahl ◽  
Susheil Uthamaraj ◽  
Kendall D. Dennis ◽  
Alena Sejkorová ◽  
Aleš Hejčl ◽  
...  

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) has grown as a tool to help understand the hemodynamic properties related to the rupture of cerebral aneurysms. Few of these studies deal specifically with aneurysm growth and most only use a single time instance within the aneurysm growth history. The present retrospective study investigated four patient-specific aneurysms, once at initial diagnosis and then at follow-up, to analyze hemodynamic and morphological changes. Aneurysm geometries were segmented via the medical image processing software Mimics. The geometries were meshed and a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis was performed using ANSYS. Results showed that major geometry bulk growth occurred in areas of low wall shear stress (WSS). Wall shape remodeling near neck impingement regions occurred in areas with large gradients of WSS and oscillatory shear index. This study found that growth occurred in areas where low WSS was accompanied by high velocity gradients between the aneurysm wall and large swirling flow structures. A new finding was that all cases showed an increase in kinetic energy from the first time point to the second, and this change in kinetic energy seems correlated to the change in aneurysm volume.


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