AJP - Heart AJP: Cell Physiology
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
 QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     


Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 284: H2192-H2203, 2003. First published January 30, 2003; doi:10.1152/ajpheart.00762.2002
0363-6135/03 $5.00
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
284/6/H2192    most recent
00762.2002v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (6)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Krenz, G. S.
Right arrow Articles by Dawson, C. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Krenz, G. S.
Right arrow Articles by Dawson, C. A.
Vol. 284, Issue 6, H2192-H2203, June 2003

Flow and pressure distributions in vascular networks consisting of distensible vessels

Gary S. Krenz1,3 and Christopher A. Dawson2,3,4

Departments of 1 Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science and 2 Biomedical Engineering, Marquette University, Milwaukee 53201-1881; 3 Research Service, Zablocki Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Milwaukee 53295; and 4 Department of Physiology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53226

We examine the influence of vessel distensibility on the fraction of the total network flow passing through each vessel of a model vascular network. An exact computational methodology is developed yielding an analytic proof. For a class of structurally heterogeneous asymmetric vascular networks, if all the individual vessels share a common distensibility relation when the total network flow is changed, this methodology proves that each vessel will continue to receive the same fraction of the total network flow. This constant flow partitioning occurs despite a redistribution of pressures, which may result in a decrease in the diameter of one and an increase in the diameter of the other of two vessels having a common diameter at a common pressure. This theoretical observation, taken along with published experimental observations on pulmonary vessel distensibilities, suggests that vessel diameter-independent distensibility in the pulmonary vasculature may be an evolutionary adaptation for preserving the spatial distribution of pulmonary blood flow in the face of large variations in cardiac output.

flow partitioning; heterogeneity; mathematical models; nonlinear; pulmonary circulation





HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Visit Other APS Journals Online
Copyright © 2003 by the American Physiological Society.