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Biomechanical Assessment of Bicuspid Aortic Valve Phenotypes: A Fluid–Structure Interaction Modelling Approach

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Abstract

Purpose

Bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) is a congenital heart malformation with phenotypic heterogeneity. There is no prior computational study that assesses the haemodynamic and valve mechanics associated with BAV type 2 against a healthy tricuspid aortic valve (TAV) and other BAV categories.

Methods

A proof-of-concept study incorporating three-dimensional fluid-structure interaction (FSI) models with idealised geometries (one TAV and six BAVs, namely type 0 with lateral and anterior-posterior orientations, type 1 with R–L, N–R and N–L leaflet fusion and type 2) has been developed. Transient physiological boundary conditions have been applied and simulations were run using an Arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian formulation.

Results

Our results showed the presence of abnormal haemodynamics in the aorta and abnormal valve mechanics: type 0 BAVs yielded the best haemodynamical and mechanical outcomes, but cusp stress distribution varied with valve orifice orientation, which can be linked to different cusp calcification location onset; type 1 BAVs gave rise to similar haemodynamics and valve mechanics, regardless of raphe position, but this position altered the location of abnormal haemodynamic features; finally, type 2 BAV constricted the majority of blood flow, exhibiting the most damaging haemodynamic and mechanical repercussions when compared to other BAV phenotypes.

Conclusion

The findings of this proof-of-concept work suggest that there are specific differences across haemodynamics and valve mechanics associated with BAV phenotypes, which may be critical to subsequent processes associated with their pathophysiology processes.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank ARUP for providing the LS-DYNA and LS-PrePost licenses for version R7.1.2.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK

    Diana M. C. de Oliveira, Nazirul Abdullah, Naomi C. Green & Daniel M. Espino

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  1. Diana M. C. de Oliveira
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de Oliveira, D.M.C., Abdullah, N., Green, N.C. et al. Biomechanical Assessment of Bicuspid Aortic Valve Phenotypes: A Fluid–Structure Interaction Modelling Approach. Cardiovasc Eng Tech 11, 431–447 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13239-020-00469-9

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