Abstract
The objectives of this investigation are to evaluate the rheologic properties in
atherosclerotic disease treated with the various coronary artery bypass graft
(CABG) models by numerical analysis, we used four different CABG models for the
assessment of spatial fluctuation in wall shear stress, pressure variation and
mass flow rate with Carreau model and Navier-Stokes equation. Wall shear stress
was higher in a naturally tapered model (model 1) and a constant (non-tapered)
diameter of the graft vessel the same as the distal LAD (model 4) than in
others. Pressure variation along the native coronary artery and graft vessels
was higher in a model 4, model 1 than in a reverse tapering model (model 2) and
a constant diameter of the graft vessel the same as the proximal LAD (model 3).
The mass flow rate of the distal part (kg/sec,.m(o)) was the highest in model 3.
This study suggests that in vitro spatial simulation following CABG revealed
that small caliber or tapered graft vessels have adverse hemodynamic effects on
the native and graft vessels. By this technique it is possible to simulate the
optimal distribution of local hemodynamic variables in patients treated with
CABG, also to minimize the degeneration of graft vessel.