Fluid-Structure Interaction Analysis on the Effects of Bifurcation Angle Asymmetry in a Left Main Coronary Artery Model

Abstract

This study was to investigate the effect of the bifurcation angle asymmetry on recirculation flow, pressure drop and wall shear stress (WSS) in an atherosclerotic model of a left coronary artery with left anterior descending (LAD) and left circumflex (LCX) branches. The linear regression analysis results showed that there is a positive correlation between WSS and bifurcation angle asymmetry. However, small increase in the WSS magnitude due to the increase in bifurcation angle asymmetry revealed the angle asymmetry does not seem to have a profound effect on the WSS. The results also showed that the bifurcation angle asymmetry play a prominent role in determining the pressure drop and recirculation area, while having relatively unnoticeable effects on the wall shear stress (WSS).