‘Corkscrew’ blood flow in the heart may mean lower stroke risk

BALTIMORE, Nov. 2 (UPI) — Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine say corkscrew-shaped blood flow through part of the heart may indicate a lower stroke risk.

In a study published in the journal Annals of Biomedical Engineering, scientists created computer models of blood flow as it passes through the upper-left chamber of the heart. Patterns in healthy hearts were compared to diseased hearts, which failed to demonstrate the corkscrew-like behaviors.

“By looking at blood flow through the atrium, we think we can accurately assess stroke risk better than such risk factors as heart size and pumping strength,” study author Hiroshi Ashikaga explained in a press release. “Our study fills in a missing diagnostic link between heart function and fluid motion in our understanding of how each can affect stroke risk.”

Prior the study, the research team noted enlarge portions of the heart have been linked to increased stroke risk in people with atrial fibrillation, and produce an irregular and sometimes excessive heart rate.

During the experiment, CT scans were taken on the healthy heart of a 58-year-old woman was and an enlarged heart of a 68-year-old man. In the first model, blood flow circled into doughnut formations referred to as vortexes, making less contact with the atrium’s surface tissue. In the second model, blood was shown to fall into “sheets” coating the surface of the heart.

“As the blood comes in contact with the atrium’s surface, it slows down due to shearing forces similar to friction, and this appears to prevent the blood from exiting the chamber as smoothly as it might,” Ahikaga continued. “The slower the blood moves and the more contact it has with the atrium, the more risk there is for a clot to form.”

The research team is conducting a longer-term study to examine the differences between blood flow in healthy and damaged hearts with the hope of uncovering stroke risk indicators.