Is Flow in the Common Carotid Artery Fully-Developed?

It is usually assumed, in both clinical and experimental settings, that blood velocity profiles in the common carotid artery (CCA) are fully-developed. This allows for a simpler estimation of CCA flow rates or wall shear stresses (WSS) from limited velocity data, such as peak velocities acquired using Doppler ultrasound (DUS) [1]. However, the assumption of a long, straight CCA may be incorrect, as the CCA does possess some curvature [2], which may alter the velocity profile from the assumed Poiseuille or Womersley shapes, and thus lead to incorrect inferences about flow rate or WSS. Consequently, this may have an impact on our understanding and diagnoses of cardiovascular related diseases. The aim of this study was to characterize the real shape of CCA velocity profiles in vivo.