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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Supplemental Tables All Versions of this Article: 294/2/H714    most recent 00818.2007v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Kaimovitz, B. Articles by Kassab, G. S. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kaimovitz, B. Articles by Kassab, G. S.

Diameter asymmetry of porcine coronary arterial trees: structural and functional implications

¹Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel; and ²Department of Biomedical Engineering, Surgery, and Cellular and Integrative Physiology, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Indiana

Submitted 14 July 2007 ; accepted in final form 19 November 2007

The coronary vasculature is characterized by highly asymmetric diameters at bifurcations, which may be an important determinant of flow distribution. To facilitate accurate reconstruction of the coronary network for hemodynamic analysis, we introduce a statistical data set of the diameter asymmetry at bifurcations based on morphometric data of the porcine coronary arterial and venous trees. The bifurcation asymmetry data were represented by the diameter ratio of the daughters relative to mother vessel and by an area expansion ratio (AER) at each bifurcation. A novel asymmetry ratio matrix was introduced to describe the diameter asymmetry of daughters to mother vessels. The relations between AER and flow velocity, and asymmetry ratio matrix and flow distribution, were considered. The results indicate that the ratio of large daughter to mother vessel has a minimum value at order 5 (mean diameter of 70 µm), whereas the ratio of small daughter to mother vessel decreases monotonically with increase in order number. The AER was found to be fairly uniform for larger vessels and to increase from order 5 toward the capillaries. At order 5, we observe a transition in asymmetric bifurcation pattern that may mark a hemodynamic transition from transmural to perfusion subnetworks. The functional implications of these structural transitions are considered.

coronary network; diameter-defined Strahler ordering; bifurcation asymmetry; area expansion ratio; asymmetry ratio matrix