Blood Stasis on Transcatheter Valve Leaflets and Implications for Valve-in-Valve Leaflet Thrombosis

Vahidkhah and colleagues used patient-specific geometry of the aortic root, ascending aorta, and coronary arteries to model blood flow near the aortic valve leaflets. The authors use this model to better understand flow-related permissive factors that might mediate leaflet thrombosis following valve replacement. Greater blood stasis was observed in the transcatheter valve-in-valve model compared to the surgical valve model, and no differences in blood stastis were modeled between coronary and noncoronary leaflets for the transcatheter valve.
CME activity related to this article is available online through The Annals of Thoracic Surgery.