CFD Study on Hemodynamic Characteristics of Inferior Vena Cava Filter Affected by Blood Vessel Diameter

Pulmonary embolism (PE), caused by deep venous thrombosis (DVT), is a disease with high morbidity and mortality. Implantation of inferior vena cava filters is an important method for the clinical prevention of PE. The hemodynamic characteristics of filters implanted in the inferior vena cava (IVC) have a significant impact on their performance. However, IVC diameters vary among patients. This may have a direct impact on the hemodynamic properties of the filter. At present, there is no research on this kind of problem to be investigated. In this paper, the hemodynamic properties of the VenaTech convertible filter were simulated in three different IVC models of 15, 20 and 25 mm diameters, using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) as a control variable (only the IVC diameter is varied). The results showed that the diameter has a significant impact on the hemodynamic characteristics after filter implantation. The IVC diameter has a great influence on the stagnation zone of the blood flow, the maximum wall shear stress (WSS) on the upstream side along the filter wire, and the flow resistance. The case of 15 mm diameter was the most prone to thrombus formation downstream of the filter head in the IVC, but the larger WSS on the upstream along the filter wire may facilitate thrombus lysis. Therefore, the change in vessel diameter should be considered when performing filter implantation for patients.