Assessment of cardiac output in children: a comparison between the pressure recording analytical method and Doppler echocardiography |
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OBJECTIVE: To assess cardiac output in pediatric patients with the pressure recording analytical method (PRAM) and the Doppler echocardiography method. PRAM derives cardiac output from beat-by-beat analysis of the arterial pressure profile (systolic and diastolic phase) in the time domain.
DESIGN: A prospective observational study.
SETTING: Pediatric intensive care unit at a tertiary care children's hospital.
PATIENTS: Forty-eight patients between the ages of 1 month and 18 yrs.
INTERVENTIONS: Femoral or radial artery catheterization and mechanical ventilation.
MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Cardiac output was simultaneously estimated by Doppler echocardiography and PRAM. Cardiac output values obtained by Doppler echocardiography (2.7 +/- 1.6 L/min, range 0.92-8.20) were significantly correlated with those estimated by PRAM (2.6 +/- 1.7 L/min, range 0.89-7.48; r2 = .99, p < .01). The mean difference between the two estimates was 0.12 +/- 0.27 L x min(-1) (95% confidence interval, -0.54 to 0.77 L x min(-1)).
CONCLUSIONS: In the range of ages evaluated, PRAM provides reliable estimates of cardiac output when compared with noninvasive techniques.
PMID:18446106[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] |