Obstructive and Sclerotic Disorders affecting Carotid Blood Flow to the Brain

The carotid artery is one of the major supply routes of blood to the brain. Currently, it is unknown what impact local changes within the carotid artery have on global circulation and specifically on the pressure and flow relationship in the common carotid artery (CCA) to the internal carotid artery (ICA) and eventually into the cerebral circulation. We used a lumped parameter model matched to an in vitro flow loop to study the effects of local stenosis and stiffness changes in the carotid artery, together with a family of carotid artery phantoms incorporating a progressively increasing stenosis or varying compliance. We found that in general local stenosis had minimal impact on blood supply to the brain, up to a certain threshold. Statistically significant changes were seen in the mean ICA flow beyond a 70 (p<0.01). Local stiffness of the carotid artery had a significant effect on the mean ICA flow (p<0.05) and was reflected in the compliance derived by the lumped parameter model (p<0.001).