UNSTEADY BLOOD FLOW THROUGH STENOSED ARTERIES.

The analysis of viscous flow through large stenosed blood vessels has attracted considerable attention for its contribution to serious cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis, hypertension, and poststenotic dilatation (PSD). To date, extensive efforts have been made to relate the abnormal flow patterns induced by an occlusion to the proliferation and progression of the localized atherosclerotic lesions (atherogenesis). In this study, the flow model consists of a distensible long uniform tube that simulates the canine femoral artery and is occluded by a constrictive medial ring. The tube is stretched initially in axial direction to introduce the in vivo condition of natural tethering. The blood was treated as Newtonian and the fluid motion was set by utilizing the in vivo pressure-flow rate measurements in the femoral artery of dogs. In addition to the analysis of the distensible model, a solution was achieved for a stenosis model with rigid walls and then the results were compared.