An integrative model of the cardiovascular system coupling heart cellular mechanics with arterial network hemodynamics.

An integrative model of the cardiovascular system coupling heart cellular mechanics with arterial network hemodynamics. J Korean Med Sci. 2013 Aug;28(8):1161-8 Authors: Kim YT, Lee JS, Youn CH, Choi JS, Shim EB Abstract The current study proposes a model of the cardiovascular system that couples heart cell mechanics with arterial hemodynamics to examine the physiological role of arterial blood pressure (BP) in left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). We developed a comprehensive multiphysics and multiscale cardiovascular model of the cardiovascular system that simulates physiological events, from membrane excitation and the contraction of a cardiac cell to heart mechanics and arterial blood hemodynamics. Using this model, we delineated the relationship between arterial BP or pulse wave velocity and LVH. Computed results were compared with existing clinical and experimental observations. To investigate the relationship between arterial hemodynamics and LVH, we performed a parametric study based on arterial wall stiffness, which was obtained in the model. Peak cellular stress of the left ventricle and systolic blood pressure (SBP) in the brachial and central arteries also increased; however, further increases were limited for higher arterial stiffness values. Interestingly, when we doubled the value of arterial stiffness from the baseline value, the percentage increase of SBP in the central artery was about 6.7% whereas that of the brachial artery wa...
Source: J Korean Med Sci - Category: Journals (General) Authors: Tags: J Korean Med Sci Source Type: research