Respiratory variations in aortic blood flow predict fluid responsiveness in ventilated children
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Updated: Jul 7, 2026

Invasive Hemodynamic Monitoring of Aortic and Pulmonary Artery Hemodynamics in a Large Animal Model of ARDS
Published on: November 26, 2018
Philippe Durand1, Laurent Chevret, Sandrine Essouri
1Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Bicêtre Hospital, 78 rue du Gal Leclerc, 94275 Le Kremlin Bicêtre, France. philippe.durand@bct.ap-hop-paris.fr
Insights
Respiratory variations in aortic blood flow velocity accurately predict fluid responsiveness in ventilated children. Systolic arterial pressure and pulse pressure variations showed little value for this prediction.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Critical Care Medicine
- Hemodynamic Monitoring
- Mechanical Ventilation
Background:
- Fluid responsiveness assessment is crucial in mechanically ventilated children.
- Predicting fluid responsiveness non-invasively can optimize fluid management.
- Existing methods like pulse pressure variation have limitations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the accuracy of respiratory variations in aortic blood flow velocity (DeltaVpeak ao) in predicting fluid responsiveness.
- To compare DeltaVpeak ao with systolic arterial pressure (DeltaPS) and pulse pressure (DeltaPP) variations.
Main Methods:
- Prospective study in a pediatric intensive care unit.
- Measured DeltaVpeak ao, DeltaPS, and DeltaPP before and after standardized volume expansion (VE).
- Analyzed left ventricular stroke volume using transthoracic pulsed-Doppler.
Main Results:
- DeltaVpeak ao accurately predicted fluid responsiveness (ROC area 0.85).
- A DeltaVpeak ao cutoff of 12% demonstrated high sensitivity (81.2%) and specificity (85.7%).
- DeltaPS and DeltaPP variations were poor predictors of fluid responsiveness.
Conclusions:
- DeltaVpeak ao is a reliable non-invasive predictor of fluid responsiveness in ventilated children.
- DeltaPS and DeltaPP variations have limited clinical utility for this purpose.
- Pulsed-Doppler measurement of DeltaVpeak ao can guide fluid management in pediatric critical care.
Objective:
To investigate whether respiratory variations in aortic blood flow velocity (DeltaVpeak ao), systolic arterial pressure (DeltaPS) and pulse pressure (DeltaPP) could accurately predict fluid responsiveness in ventilated children.
Design And Setting:
Prospective study in a 18-bed pediatric intensive care unit.
Patients:
Twenty-six children [median age 28.5 (16-44) months] with preserved left ventricular (LV) function.
Intervention:
Standardized volume expansion (VE).
Measurements And Main Results:
Analysis of aortic blood flow by transthoracic pulsed-Doppler allowed LV stroke volume measurement and on-line DeltaVpeak ao calculation. The VE-induced increase in LV stroke volume was >15% in 18 patients (responders) and <15% in 8 (non-responders). Before VE, the DeltaVpeak ao in responders was higher than that in non-responders [19% (12.1-26.3) vs. 9% (7.3-11.8), p=0.001], whereas DeltaPP and DeltaPS did not significantly differ between groups. The prediction of fluid responsiveness was higher with DeltaVpeak ao [ROC curve area 0.85 (95% IC 0.99-1.8), p=0.001] than with DeltaPS (0.64) or DeltaPP (0.59). The best cut-off for DeltaVpeak ao was 12%, with sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of 81.2%, 85.7%, 93% and 66.6%, respectively. A positive linear correlation was found between baseline DeltaVpeak ao and VE-induced gain in stroke volume (rho=0.68, p=0.001).
Conclusions:
While respiratory variations in aortic blood flow velocity measured by pulsed Doppler before VE accurately predict the effects of VE, DeltaPS and DeltaPP are of little value in ventilated children.
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