Coronary vessel wall thickening in relation to velocity and viscosity distribution

The possible relation between vessel wall thickening (VWT) and near wall velocity magnitude (V) as well as with viscosity distribution in human coronary arteries was investigating using the finite-elements technique. The geometry of seven segments from left (LCA) and right (RCA) coronary arteries, prepared postmortem and used in a previous cine-micrographic flow analysis, was adopted in the present study. In 6 of the 7 arterial segments, there was a negative correlation between V and VWT (p<0.01). Also, in 5 of the 7 arterial segments, there was a positive correlation between viscosity and VWT (p<0.01). The authors' results suggest that low near wall velocity and high viscosity values promote atherosclerosis progression.