Flow patterns and preferred sites of intimal thickening in bypass-grafted arteries .

Aim: In bypass-grafted arteries, anastomotic intimal hyperplasia develops more markedly at the distal junction than the proximal one. It is likely that it arises from the difference in flow patterns at these two sites. Therefore we have studied the relationship between the flow patterns and precise locations of wall thickening specific to the particular vessel.

Flow patterns and preferred sites of intimal thickening in diameter-mismatched vein graft interpositions.

Background: It is suspected that blood flow and flow-induced shear stress play an important role in the pathogenesis and localization of intimal hyperplasia in anastomosed vessels. However, experimental data that demonstrate the correlation between the flow and the sites of intimal thickening obtained in the same vessel are scarce. For this reason, we have studied the relationship between the flow and precise locations of wall thickening specific to the particular vessel by performing diameter-mismatched vein graft interpositions.