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Effect of head posture on the healthy human carotid bifurcation hemodynamics

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Abstract

Head and neck postures may cause morphology changes to the geometry of the carotid bifurcation (CB) that alter the low and oscillating wall shear stress (WSS) regions previously reported as important in the development of atherosclerosis. Here the right and left CB were imaged by MRI in two healthy subjects in the neutral head posture with the subject in the supine position and in two other head postures with the subject in the prone position: (1) rightward rotation up to 80°, and (2) leftward rotation up to 80°. Image-based computational models were constructed to investigate the effect of posture on arterial geometry and local hemodynamics. The area exposure to unfavorable hemodynamics, based on thresholds set for oscillatory shear index (OSI), WSS and relative residence time, was used to quantify the hemodynamic impact on the wall. Torsion of the head was found to: (1) cause notable changes in the bifurcation and internal carotid artery angles and, in most cases, on cross-sectional area ratios for common, internal and external carotid artery, (2) change the spatial distribution of wall regions exposed to unfavorable hemodynamics, and (3) cause a marked change in the hemodynamic burden on the wall when the OSI was considered. These findings suggest that head posture may be associated with the genesis and development of atherosclerotic disease as well as complications in stenotic and stented vessels.

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Acknowledgments

This work was co-funded by the European Regional Development and the Republic of Cyprus through the Research Promotion Foundation (Project IPE/YGEIA/DYGEIA/0609/11 and DIAKRATIKES/CY-SLO/0609/01) and by grant GSRT-09FR37 of the General Secretariat for Research and Technology (GSRT), Greece.

Conflict of interest

The authors have no conflict of interest related to this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Applied and Computational Mathematics, Foundation for Research and Technology, Hellas, Nikolaou Plastira 100, Vassilika Vouton, 71 110, Heraklion, Crete, Greece

    Yannis Papaharilaou

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering, Cyprus University of Technology, 30 Archbishop Kyprianos Str., 3036, Lemesos, Cyprus

    Nicolas Aristokleous, Mohammad Iman Khozeymeh & Andreas S. Anayiotos

  3. Laboratory of Medical Physics, Medical School, Democritus University of Thrace, Campus, 69100, Komotini, Greece

    Ioannis Seimenis

  4. Ayios Therissos Medical Diagnostic Center, 92 Spyrou Kyprianou Ave, 2033, Nicosia, Cyprus

    Ioannis Seimenis & Elena Eracleous

  5. Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, 1678, Nicosia, Cyprus

    Georgios C. Georgiou

  6. Department of Medicine, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1530 3rd Avenue South Birmingham, Alabama, 35294-1150, USA

    Brigitta C. Brott & Andreas S. Anayiotos

Authors
  1. Yannis Papaharilaou
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  2. Nicolas Aristokleous
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  3. Ioannis Seimenis
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  4. Mohammad Iman Khozeymeh
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  5. Georgios C. Georgiou
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  6. Brigitta C. Brott
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  7. Elena Eracleous
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  8. Andreas S. Anayiotos
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Correspondence to Nicolas Aristokleous.

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Papaharilaou, Y., Aristokleous, N., Seimenis, I. et al. Effect of head posture on the healthy human carotid bifurcation hemodynamics. Med Biol Eng Comput 51, 207–218 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-012-0985-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-012-0985-6

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