Effect of degree of stenosis on the pulsatile flow pressure drop in a coronary artery

Abstract

Artery blockage due to plaque formation affects the performance of the heart considerably. These plaques are formed inside an artery and forced the heart to work harder to feed the vessels and organs with oxygenated blood. In this study, the pressure drop of a pulsatile flow is calculated in diseased coronary arteries with different degrees of stenosis and for blood with different levels of blood viscosity. Pressure drop is much more significant at the severe degrees of stenosis (more than 60%) compared to the mild and moderate cases. The effect of changes in the level of blood viscosity on the pressure drop is more significant at early stages of atherosclerosis (mild degrees of stenosis). The comparison of the pressures measured before and after stenoses with the ones for healthy arteries is recommended to be used to estimate the severity of vessel constriction, which can be helpful in early detection of atherosclerosis via a non-invasive diagnostic procedure.