Uncalibrated arterial pulse cardiac output measurements in patients with moderately abnormal left ventricular function

Objective The aim of the study was to evaluate the accuracy and precision of the Vigileo/FloTrac system (Edwards Lifesciences, Irvine, CA) when compared with the intermittent cardiac output and continuous cardiac output measurements obtained from pulmonary arterial catheters in patients with moderately abnormal left ventricular function undergoing elective coronary artery bypass graft surgery. Design A prospective, observational study. Setting Tertiary university hospital. Participants Twenty patients with moderately abnormal left ventricular function undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery were enrolled. Measurements and Results Data were collected before the induction of anesthesia (T1), after the induction of anesthesia (T2), before cardiopulmonary bypass with an open chest (T3), after cardiopulmonary bypass (T4), after sternal closure (T5), on intensive care unit admission (T6), and at 6 hours (T7) and 12 hours after surgery (T8). A total of 360 data measurements were collected; the mean bias between intermittent cardiac output (ICO) and arterial pressure cardiac output (APCO) was -0.50 ± 1.72 L/min, and the percentage error (PE) was 37.00%. The mean difference between CCO and APCO was -0.06 ± 1.84 L/min, and the PE was 37.80%. The correlation between ΔICO and ΔAPCO was r = 0.7; the correlation between ΔCCO and ΔAPCO was r = 0.73. In the intraoperative period, the mean bias between ICO and APCO was -0.41 ± 1.75 L/min, and the PE was 40.87%. The mean difference between CCO and APCO was -0.18 ± 1.90 L/min, and the PE was 41.48%. In the postoperative period, the mean bias between ICO and APCO was -0.56 ± 1.70 L/min, and the PE was 34.43%. The mean difference between CCO and APCO was -0.36 ± 1.76 L/min, and the PE was 34.87%. Conclusions In cardiac surgical patients with moderately abnormal left ventricular function, the Vigileo/FloTrac 2nd generation software sensor device showed mild intraoperative and postoperative agreement when compared with a pulmonary arterial catheter.