Mathematical modelling of paired arterial stenoses

To determine the effect of paired stenoses and the influence of the separation between stenoses, a mathematical model of blood flow in the coronary arteries has been developed. The model, which assumes that the artery and stenoses are axisymmetric and that blood is a Newtonian fluid, is described by the two-dimensional cylindrical Navier-Stokes equation and continuity equation. These equations, being highly nonlinear, are solved using the finite element method and the FIDAP computational fluid dynamics package. This model has been used to study the effects of combinations of varying proximal and distal stenosis severity (from 0 to 96% area occlusion) as well as stenosis separation. It is argued that mathematical modeling of arterial blood flow provides a powerful yet simple tool to study the effects of any of the varied stenosis morphologies which may occur in patients with coronary artery disease.<
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