Image-based computational modeling of right ventricular flow dynamics in congenital heart disease with 4D flow validation

The evaluation of intracardiac blood flow dynamics is a powerful approach to improve the understanding and treatment of cardiovascular disease. Most adult studies today have focused on the left ventricle (LV), with important results of clinical significance. In contrast, investigation of the right ventricle (RV) is especially motivated by congenital heart disease (CHD) in the pediatric population, where long-term complications of RV failure may develop despite early life-saving interventions. However, investigations of intracardiac flow patterns in the RV have been limited by the complex multidirectional wall motion and flow patterns. Thus, there is still a large knowledge gap in whether RV flow patterns could be used to monitor RV function in CHD patients. A detailed quantification of local flow phenomena may clarify flow pathophysiology and guide therapy planning. To this aim, we will present a complete pipeline from cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) images to RV kinematic reconstruction and direct numerical simulation of the flow within the RV and pulmonary arteries. This work describes the components of this pipeline and provides results for the validation of the computational framework against conventional 4D flow CMR.