  Percutaneous catheter pumps are intraventricular temporary mechanical
circulatory support (MCS) devices that are positioned across the aortic valve
into the left ventricle (LV) and provide continuous antegrade blood flow from
the LV into the ascending aorta (AA). MCS devices are most often
computationally evaluated as isolated devices subject to idealized steady-state
blood flow conditions. In clinical practice, MCS devices operate connected to
or within diseased pulsatile native hearts and are often complicated by
hemocompatibility related adverse events such as stroke, bleeding, and
thrombosis. Whereas aspects of the human circulation are increasingly being
simulated via computational methods, the precise interplay of pulsatile LV
hemodynamics with MCS pump hemocompatibility remains mostly unknown and not
well characterized. Technologies are rapidly converging such that
next-generation MCS devices will soon be evaluated in virtual physiological
environments that increasingly mimic clinical settings. The purpose of this
brief communication is to report results and lessons learned from an
exploratory CFD simulation of hemodynamics and thrombosis for a catheter pump
situated within a virtual in-vivo left heart environment.
