Computational studies on visceral artery lesions and aortic pathologies involving visceral branches: a comprehensive review for the clinician.

Visceral arteries, including the celiac artery, superior mesenteric artery, and renal arteries, play a critical role in supplying blood to abdominal organs. Lesions affecting these arteries can be classified into two categories: primary visceral artery pathologies and secondary involvement due to aortic diseases, sometimes leading to serious complications such as ischemia, organ failure, and rupture. Computational modeling approaches have emerged as a valuable tool for analyzing complex hemodynamics in artery diseases. This review provides a critical overview of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) studies on lesions of or involving visceral arteries. CFD could help understanding how biomechanical forces contribute to the development and growth of aneurysms, stenosis, and dissections, as well as predicting the risk of thrombosis, restenosis, and graft failure after endovascular repair of aortic lesions involving the visceral branches. Significant challenges remain, including model simplifications, the lack of patient-specific boundary conditions, and inadequate clinical imaging data due to the complex and individualized anatomy of visceral arteries. Advancements in fluid-structure interaction modeling, real-time hemodynamic data acquisition from imaging modalities, and machine learning-based image segmentation are expected to enhance simulation accuracy and clinical relevance. CFD has the potential to refine the diagnosis and treatment of visceral artery diseases and improve clinical outcomes.