3D computational parametric analysis of eccentric atheroma plaque: influence of axial and circumferential residual stresses
- 7 January 2012
- journal article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology
- Vol. 11 (7), 1001-1013
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s10237-011-0369-0
Abstract
Plaque rupture plays a role in the majority of acute coronary syndromes. Rupture has usually been associated with stress concentrations, which are mainly affected by the plaque geometry and the tissue properties. The aim of this study is to evaluate the influence of morphology on the risk of plaque rupture, including the main geometrical factors, and to assess the role of circumferential and axial residual stresses by means of a parametric 3D finite element model. For this purpose, a 3D parametric finite element model of the coronary artery with eccentric atheroma plaque was developed. Healthy (adventitia and media in areas without atheroma plaque) and diseased (fibrotic and lipidic) tissues were considered in the model. The geometrical parameters used to define and design the idealized coronary plaque anatomy were the lipid core length, the stenosis ratio, the fibrous cap thickness, and the lipid core ratio. Finally, residual stresses in longitudinal and circumferential directions were incorporated into the model to analyse the influence of the important mechanical factors in the vulnerability of the plaque. Viewing the results, we conclude that residual stresses should be considered in the modelling of this kind of problems since they cause a significant alteration of the vulnerable plaque region limits. The obtained results show that the fibrous cap thickness and the lipid core length, in combination with the lipid core width, appear to be the key morphological parameters that play a determinant role in the maximal principal stress (MPS). However, the stenosis ratio is found to not play a significant role in vulnerability related to the MPS. Plaque rupture should therefore be observed as a consequence, not only of the cap thickness, but as a combination of the stenosis ratio, the fibrous cap thickness and the lipid core dimensions.Keywords
This publication has 60 references indexed in Scilit:
- Sites of Rupture in Human Atherosclerotic Carotid Plaques Are Associated With High Structural StressesStroke, 2009
- Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics—2009 UpdateCirculation, 2009
- Necrotic core thickness and positive arterial remodeling index: emergent biomechanical factors for evaluating the risk of plaque ruptureAmerican Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology, 2008
- A hypothesis for vulnerable plaque rupture due to stress-induced debonding around cellular microcalcifications in thin fibrous capsProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2006
- Association of Plaque Characterization by Intravascular Ultrasound Virtual Histology and Arterial RemodelingThe American Journal of Cardiology, 2005
- Local Maximal Stress Hypothesis and Computational Plaque Vulnerability Index for Atherosclerotic Plaque AssessmentAnnals of Biomedical Engineering, 2005
- Hyperelastic modelling of arterial layers with distributed collagen fibre orientationsJournal of The Royal Society Interface, 2005
- Arterial remodeling in atherosclerosis, restenosis and after alteration of blood flow: potential mechanisms and clinical implicationsCardiovascular Research, 2000
- Effects of Hypertension on Viscoelasticity of Carotid and Femoral Arteries in HumansHypertension, 1995
- Hemodynamic shear force in rupture of coronary arterial atherosclerotic plaquesThe American Journal of Cardiology, 1990