Key result
Hyper-coiling in umbilical artery models enhanced wall shear stress by up to 24%, and a high systole/diastole ratio increased the WSS difference between peak systole and end diastole by 62%.
Why the study?
The connection between umbilical artery systole/diastole flow velocity ratios and umbilical artery coiling morphology remains unclear.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Computational modeling suggests that hyper-coiling and high systole/diastole flow velocity ratios in umbilical arteries significantly increase wall shear stress, potentially contributing to uneven arterial wall thickness and chirality.
The systole/diastole (S/D) flow velocity ratios in umbilical arteries (UAs) have been used to assess the health status of the feto-placental circulation, yet its connection to the morphology of UAs, specifically its coiling pattern remains unclear. Spiral flow induces unbalanced wall shear stress (WSS) distribution in UAs, and may contribute to the uneven arterial wall thickness, and the chirality. In this paper, we use a 3D computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technique to quantify the wall shear stress (WSS) in UA models of two configurations, i.e. at 0.17 and 0.50 spirals per centimeter, to represent normo- and hyper-coiling, respectively. For CFD simulations we use two different S/D ratios (3.02 and 5.70) revealed from the ultrasonography waveforms of a normal and an intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) case. We found that more coils in the UA model enhanced WSS throughout a cardiac cycle (up to 24%) with the same inflow condition. In addition, time-averaged WSS are generally increased and more uneven in the hyper-coiling model. We suggest that the large WSS difference between the peak systole and end diastole (62% higher in the IURG case than the normal case) may induce uneven stenosis distribution at UAs, and contribute to UA chirality.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Wen et al. (2020) studied Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR). Hyper-coiling (0.50 spirals/cm) and high S/D ratio (5.70) vs. Normo-coiling (0.17 spirals/cm) and normal S/D ratio (3.02) was evaluated on Wall shear stress (WSS). Hyper-coiling in umbilical artery models enhanced wall shear stress by up to 24%, and a high systole/diastole ratio increased the WSS difference between peak systole and end diastole by 62%.
Synapse has enriched 10 related papers. Consider them for comparative context: