Biomechanical factors in cardiovascular disease

摘要

This Spotlight issue is focused on the influence of biomechanical forces induced by flowing blood on the development, function, and pathophysi-ology of the vasculature. The velocity and direction of blood flow vary at a temporal level with each heartbeat and changes spatially according to vascular anatomy. This concept appears to have been already appreciated in the early sixteenth century by the renaissance polymath Leonardo Da Vinci, who depicted swirling motions of blood following its interaction with the aortic valve,1 detailed drawings of which can be found in the Royal Library in Windsor Castle (http://www. royalcollection.org.uk/collection/919082/the-aortic-valve and http:// www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/919083/blood-flow-through-the-aortic-valve). The relationship between blood flow and the spatial location of atherosclerotic lesions was also noted by Virchow in 18562 and was brought into the modern era by Caro et at.,3 Nerem and Seed,4 Fry and colleagues,5 and Friedman et a/.,6 who pioneered cross-disciplinary approaches by combining engineering with biology to assess vascular biomechanical responses.