Pulmonary vein flow split effects in patient-specific simulations of left atrial flow
Abstract
Disruptions to left atrial (LA) blood flow, such as those caused by atrial fibrillation (AF), can lead to thrombosis in the left atrial appendage (LAA) and an increased risk of systemic embolism. LA hemodynamics are influenced by various factors, including LA anatomy and function, and pulmonary vein (PV) inflow conditions. In particular, the PV flow split can vary significantly among and within patients depending on multiple factors. In this study, we investigated how changes in PV flow split affect LA flow transport, focusing for the first time on blood stasis in the LAA, using a high-fidelity patient-specific computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model. We use an Immersed Boundary Method, simulating the flow in a fixed, uniform Cartesian mesh and imposing the movement of the LA walls with a moving Lagrangian mesh generated from 4D Computerized Tomography images. We analyzed LA anatomies from eight patients with varying atrial function, including three with AF and either a LAA thrombus or a history of Transient Ischemic Attacks (TIAs). Using four different flow splits (60/40% and 55/45% through right and left PVs, even flow rate, and same velocity through each PV), we found that flow patterns are sensitive to PV flow split variations, particularly in planes parallel to the mitral valve. Changes in PV flow split also had a significant impact on blood stasis and could contribute to increased risk for thrombosis inside the LAA, particularly in patients with AF and previous LAA thrombus or a history of TIAs. Our study highlights the importance of considering patient-specific PV flow split variations when assessing LA hemodynamics and identifying patients at increased risk for thrombosis and stroke. This knowledge is relevant to planning clinical procedures such as AF ablation or the implementation of LAA occluders.
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BibTeX
@article{garciavillalba2026pulmonary,
title = {{Pulmonary vein flow split effects in patient-specific simulations of left atrial flow}},
author = {Manuel García-Villalba and Pablo Martínez-Legazpi and Alejandro Gonzalo and Elliot Mcveigh and Andrew M. Kahn and Javier Bermejo and Oscar Flores and Juan Carlos Del Álamo and Eduardo Durán},
journal = {Computers in Biology and Medicine},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.compbiomed.2023.107128},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05781412v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Pulmonary vein flow split effects in patient-specific simulations of left atrial flow
AU - Manuel García-Villalba
AU - Pablo Martínez-Legazpi
AU - Alejandro Gonzalo
AU - Elliot Mcveigh
AU - Andrew M. Kahn
AU - Javier Bermejo
AU - Oscar Flores
AU - Juan Carlos Del Álamo
AU - Eduardo Durán
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/06
JO - Computers in Biology and Medicine
DO - 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2023.107128
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05781412v1
AB - Disruptions to left atrial (LA) blood flow, such as those caused by atrial fibrillation (AF), can lead to thrombosis in the left atrial appendage (LAA) and an increased risk of systemic embolism. LA hemodynamics are influenced by various factors, including LA anatomy and function, and pulmonary vein (PV) inflow conditions. In particular, the PV flow split can vary significantly among and within patients depending on multiple factors. In this study, we investigated how changes in PV flow split affect LA flow transport, focusing for the first time on blood stasis in the LAA, using a high-fidelity patient-specific computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model. We use an Immersed Boundary Method, simulating the flow in a fixed, uniform Cartesian mesh and imposing the movement of the LA walls with a moving Lagrangian mesh generated from 4D Computerized Tomography images. We analyzed LA anatomies from eight patients with varying atrial function, including three with AF and either a LAA thrombus or a history of Transient Ischemic Attacks (TIAs). Using four different flow splits (60/40% and 55/45% through right and left PVs, even flow rate, and same velocity through each PV), we found that flow patterns are sensitive to PV flow split variations, particularly in planes parallel to the mitral valve. Changes in PV flow split also had a significant impact on blood stasis and could contribute to increased risk for thrombosis inside the LAA, particularly in patients with AF and previous LAA thrombus or a history of TIAs. Our study highlights the importance of considering patient-specific PV flow split variations when assessing LA hemodynamics and identifying patients at increased risk for thrombosis and stroke. This knowledge is relevant to planning clinical procedures such as AF ablation or the implementation of LAA occluders.
SN - 0010-4825
ER -