Experimental evaluation of 2F transthoracic thermodilution cardiac outputs in small animals

Cardiac output can be measured with a computer using a 2F transthoracic catheter placed during surgery. When injections are made into a central venous catheter, this technique allows for cardiac output measurements to be made in children with complex congenital heart disease not appropriate for placement of a transvenous pulmonary artery catheter. Using rabbits similar in size to the infants most likely to need this technique, 26 experimental comparisons of thermodilution and indocyanine green dye cardiac outputs were made with cardiac outputs as low as 0.2-0.4 liter/min. The relationship between green dye and thermodilution was statistically significant (p less than 0.001) and almost linear (r = 0.92). This documents the validity of both the 2F transthoracic catheter technique in the low range of cardiac outputs appropriate for infants and children.