Investigation on the differences of hemodynamics in normal common carotid, subclavian, and common femoral arteries using the vector flow technique

Di Song; Mengmeng Liu; Yinghui Dong; Shaofu Hong; Ming Chen; Yigang Du; Shuangshuang Li; Jinfeng Xu; Wenjing Gao; Fajin Dong

doi:10.3389/fcvm.2022.956023

Investigation on the differences of hemodynamics in normal common carotid, subclavian, and common femoral arteries using the vector flow technique

Front Cardiovasc Med. 2022 Nov 17:9:956023. doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2022.956023. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Ultrasound, Shenzhen People's Hospital (The Second Clinical Medical College, Jinan University, The First Affiliated Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology), Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.
² Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics Co., Ltd., Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate the feasibility of the vector flow imaging (V Flow) technique to measure peripheral arterial hemodynamic parameters, including wall shear stress (WSS) and turbulence index (Tur) in healthy adults, and compare the results in different arteries.

Materials and methods: Fifty-two healthy adult volunteers were recruited in this study. The maximum and mean values of WSS, and the Tur values at early-systole, mid-systole, late-systole, and early diastole for total 156 normal peripheral arteries [common carotid arteries (CCA), subclavian arteries (SCA), and common femoral arteries (CFA)] were assessed using the V Flow technique.

Results: The mean WSS values for CCA, SCA, and CFA were (1.66 ± 0.68) Pa, (0.62 ± 0.30) Pa, and (0.56 ± 0.27) Pa, respectively. The mean Tur values for CCA, SCA, and CFA were (0.46 ± 1.09%), (20.7 ± 9.06%), and (24.63 ± 17.66%), respectively. The CCA and SCA, as well as the CCA and CFA, showed statistically significant differences in the mean WSS and the mean Tur (P < 0.01). The mean Tur values had a negative correlation with the mean WSS; the correlation coefficient between log(Tur) and WSS is -0.69 (P < 0.05).

Conclusion: V Flow technique is a simple, practical, and feasible quantitative imaging approach for assessing WSS and Tur in peripheral arteries. It has the potential to be a useful tool for evaluating atherosclerotic plaques in peripheral arteries. The results provide a new quantitative foundation for future investigations into diverse arterial hemodynamic parameters.

Keywords: common carotid arteries (CCA); common femoral arteries (CFA); subclavian arteries (SCA); turbulence index (Tur); ultrasound; vector flow imaging (V Flow); wall shear stress (WSS).