Three-dimensional printed models as an effective tool for the management of complex congenital heart disease.

Introduction: Three-dimensional printed models are widely used in the medical field for surgical and interventional planning. In the context of complex cardiovascular defects such as pediatric congenital heart diseases (CHDs), the adoption of 3D printed models could be an effective tool to improve decision-making. In this paper, an investigation was conducted into the characteristics of 3D printed models and their added value in understanding and managing complex pediatric congenital heart disease, also considering the associated cost.

Left atrial appendage occlusion: On the need of a numerical model to simulate the implant procedure.

Left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) is a percutaneous procedure to prevent thromboembolism in patients affected by atrial fibrillation. Despite its demonstrated efficacy, the LAA morphological complexity hinders the procedure, resulting in postprocedural drawbacks (device-related thrombus and peri-device leakage). Local anatomical features may cause difficulties in the device's positioning and affect the effectiveness of the device's implant.

3D Printed Model-Guided Neonatal Transcatheter Closure of Left Main Coronary Artery-to-Right Ventricle Fistula.

We report on a 2-week-old infant with huge left main coronary artery-to-right ventricular outflow tract fistula causing myocardial ischemia due to global coronary steal who was successfully submitted to percutaneous closure guided by a 3-dimensional-printed model using a duct-occluder vascular plug. ().

Uncertainty Quantification in the In Vivo Image-Based Estimation of Local Elastic Properties of Vascular Walls.

Introduction: Patient-specific computational models are a powerful tool for planning cardiovascular interventions. However, the in vivo patient-specific mechanical properties of vessels represent a major source of uncertainty. In this study, we investigated the effect of uncertainty in the elastic module () on a Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) model of a patient-specific aorta.

Effects of Uncertainty of Outlet Boundary Conditions in a Patient-Specific Case of Aortic Coarctation.

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations of blood flow are widely used to compute a variety of hemodynamic indicators such as velocity, time-varying wall shear stress, pressure drop, and energy losses. One of the major advances of this approach is that it is non-invasive. The accuracy of the cardiovascular simulations depends directly on the level of certainty on input parameters due to the modelling assumptions or computational settings.

A novel formulation for the study of the ascending aortic fluid dynamics with in vivo data.

Numerical simulations to evaluate thoracic aortic hemodynamics include a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) approach or fluid-structure interaction (FSI) approach. While CFD neglects the arterial deformation along the cardiac cycle by applying a rigid wall simplification, on the other side the FSI simulation requires a lot of assumptions for the material properties definition and high computational costs. The aim of this study is to investigate the feasibility of a new strategy, based on Radial Basis Functions (RBF) mesh morphing technique and transient simulations, able to introduce the patient-specific changes in aortic geometry during the cardiac cycle.

Left atrial appendage occlusion device: Development and validation of a finite element model.

Atrial Fibrillation (AF) is a common disease that significantly increases the risk of strokes. Oral anticoagulants represent the standard preventive treatment, but they involve severe drawbacks, including intracerebral bleedings. Since in patients affected by nonvalvular AF, the Left Atrial Appendage (LAA) is the primary source of thromboembolism, percutaneous closure of the LAA is a viable option for people unsuitable for long-term anticoagulant therapy.

3D Printing in Modern Cardiology.

Background: 3D printing represents an emerging technology in the field of cardiovascular medicine. 3D printing can help to perform a better analysis of complex anatomies to optimize intervention planning.

Methods: A systematic review was performed to illustrate the 3D printing technology and to describe the workflow to obtain 3D printed models from patient-specific images.