Effects of Ageing on Aortic Circulation During Atrial Fibrillation; a Numerical Study on Different Aortic Morphologies

• Published in: Annals of biomedical engineering Vol. 49; no. 9; pp. 2196 - 2213
• Main Authors: Deyranlou, Amin, Miller, Christopher A., Revell, Alistair, Keshmiri, Amir
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.09.2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Aging; Aging - physiology; Aorta; Aorta - diagnostic imaging; Aorta - physiology; Aortic arch; Atrial Fibrillation - physiopathology; Biochemistry; Biological and Medical Physics; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering; Biomedicine; Biophysics; Cardiac arrhythmia; Cardiac output; Cardiovascular diseases; Cell activation; Circulation; Classical Mechanics; Defects; Endothelial cells; Fibrillation; Flow distribution; Heart; Hemodynamics; Humans; Inlet flow; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Middle Aged; Models, Cardiovascular; Original; Original Article; Regional Blood Flow; Reproducibility of Results; Thorax; Young Adult; Aorta; Haemodynamic metrics; Computational fluid dynamics; Cardiovascular diseases; Atrial fibrillation; Ageing
• ISSN: 0090-6964; 1573-9686; 1573-9686
• DOI: 10.1007/s10439-021-02744-9

Atrial fibrillation (AF) can alter intra-cardiac flow and cardiac output that subsequently affects aortic flow circulation. These changes may become more significant where they occur concomitantly with ageing. Aortic ageing is accompanied with morphological changes such as dilation, lengthening, and arch unfolding. While the recognition of AF mechanism has been the subject of numerous studies, less focus has been devoted to the aortic circulation during the AF and there is a lack of such investigation at different ages. The current work aims to address the present gap. First, we analyse aortic flow distribution in three configurations, which attribute to young, middle and old people, using geometries constructed via clinical data. We then introduce two transient inlet flow conditions representative of key AF-associated defects. Results demonstrate that both AF and ageing negatively affect flow circulation. The main consequence of concomitant occurrence is enhancement of endothelial cell activation potential (ECAP) throughout the vascular domain, mainly at aortic arch and descending thoracic aorta, which is consistent with some clinical observations. The outcome of the current study suggests that AF exacerbates the vascular defects occurred due to the ageing, which increases the possibility of cardiovascular diseases per se .