Numerical Study of Blood Flow in the Hepatic Portion of the Inferior Vena Cava

Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS) is complete or partial occlusion in the hepatic veins and the hepatic portion of the inferior vena cava (IVC). The cause of BCS is not well known yet, however: abnormal vessel wall shear stress caused by blood flow is thought to increase the likelihood of developing BCS. In order to reveal the formation mechanism of BCS, we construct several vessel models of the IVC and hepatic veins from medical images and study the characteristics of the blood flow in the vicinity of the junctions of the hepatic veins with the IVC numerically.