Fluid Mechanics of Heart Valves and Their Replacements

Fotis Sotiropoulos, Trung Bao Le, Anvar Gilmanov

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

108 Scopus citations

Abstract

As the pulsatile cardiac blood flow drives the heart valve leaflets to open and close, the flow in the vicinity of the valve resembles a pulsed jet through a nonaxisymmetric orifice with a dynamically changing area. As a result, three-dimensional vortex rings with intricate topology emerge that interact with the complex cardiac anatomy and give rise to shear layers, regions of recirculation, and flow instabilities that could ultimately lead to transition to turbulence. Such complex flow patterns, which are inherently valve- and patient-specific, lead to mechanical forces at scales that can cause blood cell damage and thrombosis, increasing the likelihood of stroke, and can trigger the pathogenesis of various life-threatening valvular heart diseases. We summarize the current understanding of flow phenomena induced by heart valves, discuss their linkage with disease pathways, and emphasize the research advances required to translate in-depth understanding of valvular hemodynamics into effective patient therapies.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)259-283
Number of pages25
JournalAnnual Review of Fluid Mechanics
Volume48
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 3 2016

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright 2016 by Annual Reviews. All rights reserved.

Keywords

  • Aortic valve
  • Hemodynamics
  • Left ventricle
  • Mitral valve
  • Vortex ring

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