Computational analysis to assess hemodynamic forces in descending thoracic aortic aneurysms.

Descending thoracic aortic aneurysm (DTAA) is a life-threatening disorder, defined as a localized enlargement of the descending portion of the thoracic aorta. In this context, we develop a fluid-structure interaction (FSI) computational framework, with the inclusion of a turbulence model and different material properties for the healthy and the aneurysmatic portions of the vessel, to study the hemodynamics and its relationship with DTAA. We first provide an analysis on nine ideal scenarios, accounting for different aortic arch types and DTAA ubications, to study changes in blood pressure, flow patterns, turbulence, wall shear stress, drag forces and internal wall stresses.