Optimizing Pulmonary Vascular Resistances in Single Ventricle Children at Glenn Physiology using Computational Fluid Dynamics

Motivation: Individual pulmonary vascular resistances (PVR) of the left and right lung are needed to perform in-silico virtual cardiac surgery to improve Fontan conduit designs, yielding more balanced blood flow to the lungs. Goal(s): Predict patient-specific PVR of both lungs using clinical flow and pressure data acquired from cardiovascular magnetic resonance exams and catheterizations. Approach: Utilize computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and lumped parameter (LP) models to iteratively optimize the PVR of both lungs. Results: There is excellent correlation between the PVR estimates of the CFD and LP models, and both models fit to clinical outlet flow and pressure with less than 10% error. Impact: Accurate prediction of individual lung resistances is needed for patient-specific in-silico virtual cardiac surgery to optimize the design of the Fontan conduit. This design could then be implemented by surgeons to provide more balanced pulmonary blood flow in Fontan patients.