Impact of prosthetic mitral valve orientation on the ventricular flow field: Comparison using patient-specific computational fluid dynamics.

Significant mitral valve regurgitation creates progressive adverse remodeling of the left ventricle (LV). Replacement of the failing valve with a prosthesis generally improves patient outcomes but leaves the patient with non-physiological intracardiac flow patterns that might contribute to their future risk of thrombus formation and embolism. It has been suggested that the angular orientation of the implanted valve might modify the postoperative distortion of the intraventricular flow field. In this study, we investigated the effect of prosthetic valve orientation on LV flow patterns by using heart geometry from a patient with LV dysfunction and a competent native mitral valve to calculate intracardiac flow fields with computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Results were validated using in vivo 4D Flow MRI. The computed flow fields were compared to calculations following virtual implantation of a mechanical heart valve oriented in four different angles to assess the effect of leaflet position. Flow patterns were visualized in long- and short-axes and quantified with flow component analysis. In comparison to a native valve, valve implantation increased the proportion of the mitral inflow remaining in the basal region and further increased the residual volume in the apical area. Only slight changes due to valve orientation were observed. Using our numerical framework, we demonstrated quantitative changes in left ventricular blood flow due to prosthetic mitral replacement. This framework may be used to improve design of prosthetic heart valves and implantation procedures to minimize the potential for apical flow stasis, and potentially assist personalized treatment planning.