Document Type

Article

Language

eng

Format of Original

8 p.

Publication Date

3-2001

Publisher

American Physiological Society

Source Publication

American Journal of Physiology: Heart and Circulatory Physiology

Source ISSN

1522-1539

Original Item ID

DOI: 10.1152/ajpheart.2001.280.3.H1256

Abstract

A bifurcating arterial system with Poiseuille flow can function at minimum cost and with uniform wall shear stress if the branching exponent (z) = 3 [where z is defined by (D 1)z = (D 2)z + (D 3)z; D 1 is the parent vessel diameter and D 2 and D 3 are the two daughter vessel diameters at a bifurcation]. Because wall shear stress is a physiologically transducible force, shear stress-dependent control over vessel diameter would appear to provide a means for preserving this optimal structure through maintenance of uniform shear stress. A mean z of 3 has been considered confirmation of such a control mechanism. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the consequences of a heterogeneous distribution of z values about the mean with regard to this uniform shear stress hypothesis. Simulations were carried out on model structures otherwise conforming to the criteria consistent with uniform shear stress when z = 3 but with varying distributions of z. The result was that when there was significant heterogeneity in z approaching that found in a real arterial tree, the coefficient of variation in shear stress was comparable to the coefficient of variation in z and nearly independent of the mean value of z. A systematic increase in mean shear stress with decreasing vessel diameter was one component of the variation in shear stress even when the mean z = 3. The conclusion is that the influence of shear stress in determining vessel diameters is not, per se, manifested in a mean value of z. In a vascular tree having a heterogeneous distribution in z values, a particular mean value of z (e.g., z = 3) apparently has little bearing on the uniform shear stress hypothesis.

Comments

Accepted version. American Journal of Physiology, Vol. 280, No. 3 (March 2001): H1256-H1263. DOI. © 2001 American Physiological Society. Used with permission.

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