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[Comparison of Doppler echocardiographic methods of determining cardiac minute volume]

H Dittmann1, W Voelker, K R Karsch

  • 1Medizinische Klinik III, Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen.

Zeitschrift Fur Kardiologie
|July 1, 1987
PubMed

Insights

Pulsed Doppler echocardiography accurately measures cardiac output in patients without valvular disease. Left ventricular outflow tract measurements showed the best correlation with thermodilution, offering a reliable non-invasive method.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Medical Imaging
  • Hemodynamics

Background:

  • Accurate cardiac output (CO) measurement is crucial for cardiovascular assessment.
  • Thermodilution is a standard CO measurement technique.
  • Non-invasive methods like Doppler echocardiography are sought for CO determination.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the accuracy of pulsed Doppler echocardiography in measuring cardiac output.
  • To compare Doppler-derived CO with simultaneous thermodilution measurements.
  • To identify the optimal Doppler echocardiography method for CO assessment.

Main Methods:

  • Simultaneous measurement of cardiac output using pulsed Doppler echocardiography and thermodilution in 40 patients without valvular disease.
  • Doppler sample volume placed at mitral valve and left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT).
  • Calculation of cross-sectional areas from echocardiographic diameters; CO derived from time-velocity integrals and heart rate.

Main Results:

  • Thermodilution CO ranged from 4.0 to 10.2 L/min.
  • All Doppler methods showed significant correlation with thermodilution.
  • LVOT measurements using M-mode aortic ring diameter for area yielded the highest correlation (r=0.93) and lowest standard error (0.589 L/min).

Conclusions:

  • Pulsed Doppler echocardiography is a reliable non-invasive method for cardiac output determination.
  • Doppler measurements in the left ventricular outflow tract, with area derived from M-mode aortic ring, offer the most accurate assessment.
  • This technique provides a valuable alternative to invasive methods for cardiac output evaluation.

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