PATIENT-SPECIFIC VALVE DYNAMICS USING 3D FLUID-STRUCTURE INTERACTION MODELING: COMPARISON BETWEEN BICUSPID AND TRISCUSPID AORTIC VALVES

摘要

Aortic valve diseases such as congenital bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) and progressive calcification in tricuspid valves affect the hemodynamics in the aortic arch. In addition to leaflet calcification, BAVs are associated with other ailments such as aortic coarctation, aneurysm and dissection [1]. It has also been observed that progressive calcification is accelerated in the case of BAVs compared to normal tricuspid valves. While it is not yet known whether the geometric distortion in BAVs is the main cause of calcification [2] in these valves, the distortion in the leaflets may give rise to altered stresses during the deformation processes which might play a role in accelerating the calcification process in BAVs. In addition, the altered flow caused by the change in geometry could alter the local fluid stresses during the opening phase, which might affect the endothelial lining of the aortic wall. Analyzing and comparing BAV and tricuspid aortic valves as a fluid-structure interaction problem will help determine the stress distribution on the leaflets during opening phase, and enable the examination of altered flow dynamics in the ascending aorta. In this study, the opening phase of a patient-specific bicuspid aortic valve is analyzed at physiological conditions and compared with the opening phase of a tricuspid aortic valve.