Validation of a simple method assessing nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide concentrations

Area of Science:

• Clinical Chemistry
• Medical Instrumentation
• Respiratory Medicine

Background:

• Accurate monitoring of nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is crucial for safe clinical application of NO therapy.
• The gold standard chemiluminescence method is impractical for routine clinical use due to cost and logistical constraints.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the performance of an electrochemical device (Polytrons NO and NO2, Dräger) for measuring NO and NO2 concentrations in a clinical context.
• To compare the accuracy and reliability of the Polytron device against the established chemiluminescence reference method.

Main Methods:

• Simultaneous measurements of NO and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) were conducted using both the Polytron device and chemiluminescence.
• Forty-nine paired measurements were analyzed to assess correlation and agreement between the two methods.

Main Results:

• NO measurements by the Polytron device showed excellent correlation with the chemiluminescence method (r = 0.96, p < 10(-5)).
• A good correlation was also observed for NO2 measurements by Polytron and NOx by chemiluminescence (r = 0.84, p < 10(-5)).
• The Polytron device's ability to detect NO2 in the ppb-range was insufficient to rule out potential toxicity.

Conclusions:

• The Polytron electrochemical device demonstrates good correlation with the reference method for NO monitoring, suggesting its suitability for clinical applications.
• While useful for NO, the Polytron device's limitations in NO2 detection require consideration for comprehensive toxicity assessment.