Abstract
It is hypothesized that the beneficial effect of exercise in retarding the progression of cardiovascular disease is due, at least in part, to the elimination of adverse hemodynamic conditions including high particle residence time and low wall shear stress [1]. In-vitro and in-vivo investigations have provided limited qualitative information on flow patterns in the abdominal aorta and the effect of exercise on eliminating adverse hemodynamic conditions [2]. A computer model of a normal human abdominal aorta was created to simulate aortic blood flow under rest and graded exercise, pulsatile, flow conditions. Flow patterns, wall shear stress and particle residence time were computed in the lesion-prone infrarenal aorta and the effect of exercise determined.
