HEMODYNAMICS AND ATHEROSCLEROSIS

Vascular diseases due to atherosclerosis have become a major cause of human mortality and morbidity in modern society. Although atherosclerosis is a multifactor disease, the localization of this disease strongly suggests the involvement of local hemodynamics in the vascular system. In past years, researchers have mainly focused their attention to the effects of stresses, especially the flow-induced wall shear stress, on the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. In this review, the hemodynamic factors involved in atherogenesis were discussed, and a flow-dependent concentration polarization hypothesis was proposed to explain the localization of atherogenesis.