Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 26, 2026
Monitoring Lung Function with Electrical Impedance Tomography in the Intensive Care Unit
Published on: September 6, 2024
Bedside noninvasive detection of acute pulmonary embolism in critically ill surgical patients
J T Anderson1, J T Owings, J E Goodnight
1Department of Surgery, University of California, Davis, Health System, Sacramento, USA.
Hypothesis:
We hypothesized that late pulmonary dead space fraction (Fd(late)) would be a useful tool to screen for pulmonary embolism (PE) in a group of surgical patients, including patients who required mechanical ventilation and patients with adult respiratory distress syndrome.
Design:
We prospectively calculated Fd(late) in patients with suspected PE who underwent pulmonary angiography.
Setting:
University-based, level I trauma center.
Main Outcome Measure:
Ability of Fd(late) to identify patients with PE.
Results:
Twelve patients had 14 angiograms for suspected PE. The Fd(late) was 0.12 or above in all 5 patients who had PE; 4 required mechanical ventilation. The Fd(late) values were below 0.12 in 8 of 9 patients without PE. Four patients had adult respiratory distress syndrome. The Fd(late) had 100% sensitivity and 89% specificity for the detection of PE.
Conclusions:
The Fd(late) is a valuable tool for bedside screening of PE in surgical patients. We were able to accurately detect all PEs.
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