Abstract
With the help of computational fluid dynamics (CFD), hemodynamics of the pulmonary arteries (PA's) can be studied in detail and varying physiological circumstances and treatment options can be simulated. This offers the opportunity to improve the diagnostics and treatment of PA stenosis in biventricular congenital heart disease (CHD). The aim of this review was to evaluate the methods of computational studies for PA's in biventricular CHD and the level of validation of the numerical outcomes. A total of 34 original research papers were selected. The literature showed a great variety in the used methods for (re) construction of the geometry as well as definition of the boundary conditions and numerical setup. There were 10 different methods identified to define inlet boundary conditions and 17 for outlet boundary conditions. A total of nine papers verified their CFD outcomes by comparing results to clinical data or by an experimental mock loop. The diversity in used methods and the low level of validation of the outcomes result in uncertainties regarding the reliability of numerical studies. This limits the current clinical utility of CFD for the study of PA flow in CHD. Standardization and validation of the methods are therefore recommended.
Highlights
Stenosis of the pulmonary arteries (PA’s) is commonly seen in patients with congenital heart disease (CHD)
The full-text screening of these papers revealed exclusion criteria for 11 articles. This resulted in a total of 34 eligible papers for this review
The results presented in the included papers varied according to the research question proposed
Summary
Stenosis of the pulmonary arteries (PA’s) is commonly seen in patients with congenital heart disease (CHD). It can occur as a native substrate or after surgery [1]. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) provides the opportunity to study these factors and enhance our knowledge of hemodynamics in the PA’s. It allows for detailed flow visualization and simulation of exercise and treatment outcomes. The aim of this review was to analyze the available literature on numerical studies of the pulmonary arteries in biventricular CHD, focusing on the used methods and validation of the results
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