Non-uniform mixing of hepatic venous flow and inferior vena cava flow in the Fontan conduit

Fontan patients require a balanced hepatic blood flow distribution (HFD) to prevent pulmonary arteriovenous malformations. Currently, HFD is quantified by tracking Fontan conduit flow, assuming hepatic venous (HV) flow to be uniformly distributed within the Fontan conduit. However, this assumption may be unvalid leading to inaccuracies in HFD...

Computational modeling of hepatic blood flow in Fontan circulations: The influence of respiration

Background: The Fontan procedure is the last of three stages of congenital heart surgery to treat children born with a single ventricle heart defect. In these patients, a balanced hepatic blood flow distribution (HFD) towards both lungs is important, since a lack of “hepatic factor” has been associated with the formation of pulmonary...