This Article Abstract Résumé de cet Article Full Text (PDF) Submit a scholarly reply Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Yamashita, K. Articles by Manabe, M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Yamashita, K. Articles by Manabe, M.

Cardiac output by PulseCO^TM is not interchangeable with thermodilution in patients undergoing OPCAB

[L’évaluation du débit cardiaque par PulseCO^TM n’est pas interchangeable avec celle de la thermodilution chez des patients devant subir un PACCB]

Koichi Yamashita, MD PhD^*, Tomoki Nishiyama, MD PhD, Takeshi Yokoyama, DDS PhD^*, Hidehiro Abe, MD^* and Masanobu Manabe, MD PhD^*

^* From the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Kochi Medical School, Nankoku; and the Department of Anesthesiology, The University of Tokyo, Faculty of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.

Address correspondence to: Dr. Koichi Yamashita, Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Kochi Medical School, Kohasu, Oko-cho, Nankoku-shi, Kochi, 783-8505, Japan. Phone: +81-88-880-2471; Fax: +81-88-880-2475; E-mail: koichiya{at}kochi-ms.ac.jp

	Abstract

TOP Abstract Introduction Methods Results Discussion References

 
Purpose: To investigate the reliability of cardiac output assessed by arterial pressure waveform (PulseCO^TM) in comparison with bolus thermodilution measurements in patients undergoing off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (OPCAB).

Methods: 23 patients who underwent OPCAB were enrolled in this study. After premedication with oral diazepam 10 mg, anesthesia was induced with midazolam, fentanyl and vecuronium. After induction, radial artery and pulmonary artery catheters were inserted. Cardiac output was measured simultaneously by the PulseCO^TM and the bolus thermodilution method using the Vigilance^TM monitor: 1) after sternotomy, 2) after opening the mediastinum, and 3) at the end of surgery. The PulseCO^TM was calibrated initially with cardiac output determined by the thermodilution method after induction of anesthesia.

Results: The correlation coefficients between the two techniques at the three measurement periods were: 1) R² = 0.49, 2) R² = 0.52, 3) R² = 0.55. The limits of agreement (bias ± 2 SD of bias) were: 1) 0.71 ± 2.66, 2) 0.30 ± 1.97, 3) 0.76 ± 3.85 L·min^–1.

Conclusions: Cardiac output by PulseCO^TM is not interchangeable with cardiac output measured by thermodilution in patients undergoing OPCAB.

	Introduction

TOP Abstract Introduction Methods Results Discussion References

 
DURING cardiac surgery, especially off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (OPCAB), heart rate and arterial blood pressure change dynamically and sometimes dramatically. Under these conditions, a beat-by-beat cardiac output (CO) measurement is useful to understand hemodynamics. The thermodilution technique of determining CO using a pulmonary artery catheter is standard.¹ However, the thermodilution technique requires several stable cardiac beats to calculate CO from the temperature time curve. In contrast, the PulseCO^TM (Lidco Ltd., London, UK) calculates CO from the arterial pressure waveform of a peripheral artery such as the radial artery using autocorrelation by nonlinear transformation of the input analogue arterial pressure.² Therefore, the PulseCO^TM can determine beat-by-beat CO. However, the arterial pressure waveform often changes during surgery because the arterial compliance changes according to sympathetic activity, intravascular blood volume, position, etc.^3–5 These factors may induce miscalculation of the CO by PulseCO^TM because of inaccurate estimation of pulse wave velocity.² The purpose of the present study was to determine whether CO measured by the PulseCO^TM is interchangeable with CO measured by the bolus thermodilution method with the Vigilance^TM monitor (Edwards Lifesciences LLC, Irvine, CA, USA) in patients undergoing OPCAB.

	Methods

TOP Abstract Introduction Methods Results Discussion References

 
Twenty-three patients scheduled to undergo OPCAB were enrolled in this study after obtaining informed consent to the institutionally approved protocol. Patients who suffered from aortic valve stenosis and regurgitation were excluded from the study. After premedication with oral diazepam 10 mg, anesthesia was induced with midazolam 0.15 mg·kg^–1 iv and fentanyl 10 µg·kg^–1 iv. Endotracheal intubation was facilitated with vecuronium 0.15 mg·kg^–1 iv. Anesthesia was maintained with midazolam, fentanyl and vecuronium. After induction, radial artery and pulmonary artery catheters (Edwards Lifescience LLC, Irvine, CA, USA) with a 9 Fr introducer (Percutaneous Sheath Introducer Kit, Arrow International, Bernville, PA, USA) were inserted. CO was measured after induction to calibrate the PulseCO^TM and, subsequently, after sternotomy, after opening the mediastinum and at the end of surgery. No vasopressor or vasodilator drugs were used until coronary artery bypass grafting was initiated. CO by the standard thermodilution method was measured using the Vigilance^TM system. Other variables were measured by standard monitors (Life Scope 9^TM, Nihon Kohden, Tokyo, Japan). The PulseCO^TM was connected to the patient monitor and analyzed the arterial pressure waveform to calculate CO. The PulseCO^TM was initially calibrated with the value of CO measured by thermodilution, and no recalibration was performed during the study. For the thermodilution method, CO was measured three times by injection of 0.2 mL·kg^–1 saline of less than 5°C and the mean value was calculated.

Statistical analysis
Data are expressed as mean ± standard deviation (SD). Hemodynamic variables were analyzed by repeated measures analysis of variance with Bonferroni correction. Correlation between CO measured by the PulseCO^TM and thermodilution was determined by linear regression analysis. The Blant-Altman plot was used to compare the bias (the mean of the differences) and limits of agreement (bias ± 2 SD of bias) between the two methods.⁶ A priori, a difference within the range of ± 0.5 L·min^–1 was considered clinically acceptable to support the conclusion that the two methods are interchangeable. A P-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

	Results

TOP Abstract Introduction Methods Results Discussion References

 
Fourteen males and nine females with a mean age of 68 ± 9 yr were controlled. Mean height and weight were 159 ± 9 cm and 61 ± 11 kg, respectively. Hemodynamic data are presented in Table I. Heart rate increased after sternotomy, after opening the mediastinum and at the end of surgery (P < 0.05). Mean arterial pressure decreased (P < 0.05) after opening the mediastinum. Systemic and pulmonary vascular resistance were also lower (P < 0.05) after opening the mediastinum and at the end of surgery compared to control values. The correlation coefficients (R²) were relatively low between COs measured by the PulseCO^TM and thermodilution (Figure 1). The bias was positive at every measurement (Table II, Figure 2). The limits of agreement exceeded the predetermined limits judged to be clinically acceptable.

View larger version (9K): [in this window] [in a new window]   FIGURE 1 Scatter plot of individual cardiac output measurements by both the PulseCOTM and the bolus thermodilution method: A) after sternotomy; B) after opening the mediastinum; C) at the end of surgery. The solid lines are linear regression lines.

View larger version (21K): [in this window] [in a new window]   FIGURE 2 Bland-Altman plot of cardiac output measurements from PulseCOTM and bolus thermodilution method: A) after sternotomy; B) after opening the mediastinum; C) at the end of surgery. Average cardiac output was defined as (cardiac output by PulseCOTM + cardiac output by thebolus thermodilution method) ÷ 2. The solid lines indicate bias (the mean of the differences). The dashed lines indicate the limits of agreement (bias ± 2 SD of bias). The shaded area represents the difference chosen to be acceptable while still supporting the conclusion that the two methods are interchangeable (0.5 L–min–1 above and below the mean difference).

	Discussion

TOP Abstract Introduction Methods Results Discussion References

The method to determine CO from characteristics of the arterial pressure waveform is called the ‘pulse contour method’.³ Pulse contour methods use properties of the aorta and arterial system to determine an aortic flow from an arterial pressure waveform. However, aortic pathology and variations in the aortic sectional area present challenges in calibrating arterial pressure waveform in individual patients. Therefore, pulse contour methods require calibration by another method.² Originally a lithium chroride indicator dilution technique was used to calibrate the PulseCO^TM measurement.^7,8 However, in the present study, the PulseCO^TM was calibrated with CO measured by the bolus thermodilution method using a pulmonary artery catheter, because a lithium chroride indicator was not available for this purpose in Japan and the bolus thermodilution method is the current standard to measure CO.¹ In the present study, CO measured after induction was the same between the two methods.

The PulseCO^TM has previously been reported to be a useful CO monitor after cardiac surgery.⁹ However, in the present study, correlation coefficients between CO measured by the PulseCO^TM and thermodilution were smaller, moreover, and bias was relatively larger than documents in previous studies.^2,10 The observed bias from 0.30 to 0.76 L·min^–1 and limits of agreement exceeding ± 0.5 L·min^–1 suggest that the PulseCO^TM overestimates CO measured by thermodilution in patients undergoing OPCAB.

The PulseCO^TM algorithm uses aortic flow velocity to calculate CO from the mean arterial pressure.² However, velocity may change by alteration of cardiac and/or arterial compliance, even when mean arterial pressure remains the same. In cardiac surgery, cardiac compliance changes markedly due to the alteration of intrathoracic pressure by sternotomy and opening the mediastinum. In addition, arterial compliance may be altered by vasoactive drugs (e.g., phenylephrine, dopamine, nitroglycerine) or body temperature. However, the PulseCO^TM cannot continuously measure the arterial compliance. Therefore, the PulseCO^TM has the potential to miscalculate CO due to ‘drift’ and may need several calibrations to measure CO during surgery. In our study, we calibrated the PulseCO^TM only once, reflecting how it is generally used in the clinical setting.

We conclude that CO measurement by PulseCO^TM is not interchangeable with CO measured by thermodilution in patients undergoing OPCAB.

	Footnotes

 
Accepted for publication October 12, 2004. Revision accepted February 14, 2005.

	References

TOP Abstract Introduction Methods Results Discussion References

 
1 Connors AF Jr, Speroff T, Dawson NV, et al. The effectiveness of right heart catheterization in the initial care of critically ill patients. JAMA 1996; 276: 889–97.[Abstract]

2 Linton NW, Linton RA. Estimation of changes in cardiac output from the arterial blood pressure waveform in the upper limb. Br J Anaesth 2001; 86: 486–96.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

3 Van Lieshout JJ, Wesseling KH. Continuous cardiac output by pulse contour analysis? (Editorial). Br J Anaesth 2001; 86: 467–8.[Free Full Text]

4 Jansen JR, Schreuder JJ, Mulier JP, Smith NT, Settels JJ, Wesseling KH. A comparison of cardiac output derived from the arterial pressure wave against thermodilution in cardiac surgery patients. Br J Anaesth 2001; 87: 212–22.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

5 Rödig G, Prasser C, Keyl C, Liebold A, Hobbhahn J. Continuous cardiac output measurement: pulse contour analysis vs thermodilution technique in cardiac surgery patients. Br J Anaesth 1999; 82: 525–30.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

6 Bland JM, Altman DG. Statistical methods for assessing agreement between two methods of clinical measurement. Lancet 1986; 1: 307–10.[Medline]

7 Linton R, Band D, O’Brien T, Jonas M, Leach R. Lithium dilution cardiac output measurement: a comparison with thermodilution. Crit Care Med 1997; 25: 1796–800.[Medline]

8 Jonas MM, Tanser SJ. Lithium dilution measurement of cardiac output and arterial pulse waveform analysis: an indicator dilution calibrated beat-by-beat system for continuous estimation of cardiac output. Curr Opin Crit Care 2002; 8: 257–61.[Medline]

9 Hamilton TT, Huber LM, Jessen ME. PulseCO: a less-invasive method to monitor cardiac output from arterial pressure after cardiac surgery. Ann Thorac Surg 2002; 74: S1408–12.[Abstract/Free Full Text]

10 Segal E, Katzenelson R, Berkenstadt H, Perel A. Transpulmonary thermodilution cardiac output measurement using the axillary artery in critically ill patients. J Clin Anesth 2002; 14: 210–3.[Medline]

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. Mayer, J. Boldt, M. W. Wolf, J. Lang, and S. Suttner Cardiac Output Derived from Arterial Pressure Waveform Analysis in Patients Undergoing Cardiac Surgery: Validity of a Second Generation Device Anesth. Analg., March 1, 2008; 106(3): 867 - 872. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. Button, L. Weibel, O. Reuthebuch, M. Genoni, A. Zollinger, and C. K. Hofer Clinical evaluation of the FloTrac/VigileoTM system and two established continuous cardiac output monitoring devices in patients undergoing cardiac surgery Br. J. Anaesth., September 1, 2007; 99(3): 329 - 336. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. Mayer, J. Boldt, T. Schollhorn, K. D. Rohm, A. M. Mengistu, and S. Suttner Semi-invasive monitoring of cardiac output by a new device using arterial pressure waveform analysis: a comparison with intermittent pulmonary artery thermodilution in patients undergoing cardiac surgery Br. J. Anaesth., February 1, 2007; 98(2): 176 - 182. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Al-Ruzzeh Less invasive cardiac output monitoring for OPCAB surgery. Can J Anesth, October 1, 2006; 53(10): 1064 - 1065. [Full Text] [PDF]

				N. Linton Pulse contour analysis to estimate cardiac output. Can J Anesth, August 1, 2006; 53(8): 850 - 851. [Full Text] [PDF]

This Article Abstract Résumé de cet Article Full Text (PDF) Submit a scholarly reply Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Yamashita, K. Articles by Manabe, M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Yamashita, K. Articles by Manabe, M.