performance of the Fontan circulation compared with a normal biventricular circulation: a computational model study. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 307: H1056 -H1072, 2014. First published July 25, 2014 doi:10.1152/ajpheart.00245.2014The physiological limitations of the Fontan circulation have been extensively addressed in the literature. Many studies emphasized the importance of pulmonary vascular resistance in determining cardiac output (CO) but gave little attention to other cardiovascular properties that may play considerable roles as well. The present study was aimed to systemically investigate the effects of various cardiovascular properties on clinically relevant hemodynamic variables (e.g., CO and central venous pressure). To this aim, a computational modeling method was employed. The constructed models provided a useful tool for quantifying the hemodynamic effects of any cardiovascular property of interest by varying the corresponding model parameters in model-based simulations. Herein, the Fontan circulation was studied compared with a normal biventricular circulation so as to highlight the unique characteristics of the Fontan circulation. Based on a series of numerical experiments, it was found that 1) pulmonary vascular resistance, ventricular diastolic function, and systemic vascular compliance play a major role, while heart rate, ventricular contractility, and systemic vascular resistance play a secondary role in the regulation of CO in the Fontan circulation; 2) CO is nonlinearly related to any single cardiovascular property, with their relationship being simultaneously influenced by other cardiovascular properties; and 3) the stability of central venous pressure is significantly reduced in the Fontan circulation. The findings suggest that the hemodynamic performance of the Fontan circulation is codetermined by various cardiovascular properties and hence a full understanding of patientspecific cardiovascular conditions is necessary to optimize the treatment of Fontan patients.

The current study demonstrates the feasibility of assessing cardiovascular function quantitatively by combining clinical data with a cardiovascular model. In particular, the assessment utilizes the measurements already in use or available in clinical settings, enhancing the clinical potential of the proposed method.

The assessment of cardiovascular function is becoming increasingly important for the care of patients with single-ventricle defects. However, most measurement methods available in the clinical setting cannot provide a separate measure of cardiac function and loading conditions. In the present study, a numerical method has been proposed to compensate for the limitations of clinical measurements. The main idea was to estimate the parameters of a cardiovascular model by fitting model simulations to patient-specific clinical data via parameter optimization. Several strategies have been taken to establish a well-posed parameter optimization problem, including clinical data-matched model development, parameter selection based on an extensive sensitivity analysis, and proper choice of parameter optimization algorithm. The numerical experiments confirmed the ability of the proposed parameter optimization method to uniquely determine the model parameters given an arbitrary set of clinical data. The method was further tested in four patients undergoing the Fontan operation. Obtained results revealed a prevalence of ventricular abnormalities in the patient cohort and at the same time demonstrated the presence of marked inter-patient differences and preoperative to postoperative changes in cardiovascular function. Because the method allows a quick assessment and makes use of clinical data available in clinical practice, its clinical application is promising.

Although abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) occur mostly inferior to the renal artery, the mechanism of the development of AAA in relation to its specific location is not yet clearly understood. The objective of this study was to evaluate the hypothesis that even healthy volunteers may manifest specific flow characteristics of blood flow and alter wall shear or oscillatory shear stress in the areas where AAAs commonly develop. Eight healthy male volunteers were enrolled in this prospective study, aged from 24 to 27. Phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed with electrocardiographic triggering. Flow-sensitive four-dimensional MR imaging of the abdominal aorta, with three-directional velocity encoding, including simple morphological image acquisition, was performed. Information on specific locations on the aortic wall was applied to the flow encodes to calculate wall shear stress (WSS) and oscillatory shear index (OSI). While time-framed WSS showed the highest peak of 1.14 ± 0.25 Pa in the juxtaposition of the renal artery, the WSS plateaued to 0.61 Pa at the anterior wall of the abdominal aorta. The OSI peaked distal to the renal arteries at the posterior wall of the abdominal aorta of 0.249 ± 0.148, and was constantly elevated in the whole abdominal aorta at more than 0.14. All subjects were found to have elevated OSI in regions where AAAs commonly occur. These findings indicate that areas of constant peaked oscillatory shear stress in the infra-renal aorta may be one of the factors that lead to morphological changes over time, even in healthy individuals.