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Following the deployment of a coronary stent and disruption of an atheromatous plaque, the deformation of the arterial wall and the presence of the stent struts create a new fluid dynamic field, which can cause an abnormal biological response. In this study 3D computational models were used to analyze the fluid dynamic disturbances induced by the placement of a stent inside a coronary artery. Stents models were first expanded against a simplified arterial plaque, with a solid mechanics analysis, and then subjected to a fluid flow simulation under pulsatile physiological conditions. Spatial and temporal distribution of arterial wall shear stress (WSS) was investigated after the expansion of stents of different designs and different strut thicknesses. Common oscillatory WSS behavior was detected in all stent models. Comparing stent and vessel wall surfaces, maximum WSS values (in the order of 1Pa) were located on the stent surface area. WSS spatial distribution on the vascular wall surface showed decreasing values from the center of the vessel wall portion delimited by the stent struts to the wall regions close to the struts. The hemodynamic effects induced by two different thickness values for the same stent design were investigated, too, and a reduced extension of low WSS region (<0.5Pa) was observed for the model with a thicker strut.

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The close correlation between predicted and observed data supports the use of mathematic modeling in the design and assessment of surgical procedures. The potentially damaging effects of a systemic ventriculotomy in the right ventricle-pulmonary artery shunt modification of the Norwood operation have not been analyzed.