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Updated: May 23, 2026

Echocardiographic Assessment Using Subxiphoid-Only Examination for Hypotensive Patients
Published on: April 18, 2025
Do induced hypertension and hypotension affect stroke volume variation in man?
Zen'ichiro Wajima1, Toshiya Shiga, Kazuyuki Imanaga
1Department of Anesthesiology, Shioya Hospital, International University of Health and Welfare, Tochigi 329-2145, Japan. HFB01245@nifty.com
Study Objective:
To investigate changes in stroke volume variation (SVV) by both induced hypertension (pressor test) and hypotension (depressor test), and also by induced hypotensive anesthesia in patients with good cardiac function.
Design:
Prospective, controlled clinical study.
Setting:
University hospital.
Patients:
31 ASA physical status 1 and 2 patients, aged 39-62 years, who were scheduled for elective surgery.
Interventions:
We conducted three studies: a pressor test study, a depressor test study, and an induced hypotensive anesthesia study. In the pressor test, patients received a bolus of phenylephrine 0.001 mg/kg to increase systolic arterial pressure (SAP) by 30% to 40% compared with baseline. In the depressor test, patients received a bolus of nitroglycerine 0.005 mg/kg to decrease SAP by 30% to 40% compared with baseline. In the induced hypotensive anesthesia test, patients received intravenous (IV) nitroglycerine continuously until mean arterial pressure (MAP) was reduced to 60-70 mmHg.
Measurements:
When arterial pressure reached the target pressure for each study type, SVV and other parameters were recorded.
Main Results:
Induced hypertension (pressor test) decreased SVV, while induced hypotension (depressor test) and induced hypotensive anesthesia increased SVV.
Conclusions:
SVV does not misinterpret preload dependency assessment of patients receiving medications to increase or to lower blood pressure.
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