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Assessment of left ventricular function by pulse wave analysis in critically ill patients

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Abstract

Purpose

Left ventricular (LV) performance is often quantified by echocardiography in critically ill patients. Pulse wave analysis (PWA) systems can also monitor cardiac function but in a continuous fashion. We compared echocardiographic and PWA-derived indices of LV function.

Methods

We enrolled 70 critically ill patients equipped with invasive arterial pressure monitoring who required echocardiography. We simultaneously assessed LV ejection fraction (LVEF), the rate of LV pressure rise during systole (dP/dt MAX) obtained with echocardiography (EC-dP/dt MAX), the ratio of effective arterial elastance to LV end-systolic elastance (E a/E es) determined by echocardiography, the dP/dt MAX estimated from the arterial pressure waveform (AP-dP/dt MAX) and the cardiac cycle efficiency (CCE) using PWA.

Results

Mean LVEF was 53 ± 18 % and CCE 0.16 ± 0.26. CCE was correlated linearly with LVEF (r = 0.88, 95 % CI 0.81 to 0.92, P < 0.001), and the dP/dt MAX values from the two techniques were linearly correlated (r = 0.93, 95 % CI 0.87 to 0.96, P < 0.001). There was minimal bias between the techniques for measurement of dP/dt MAX (23.7 mmHg/ms; 95 % CI −23.6 to 71.0). E a/E es and CCE were inversely correlated (r = −0.81, 95 % CI −0.88 to −0.71, P < 0.001). A CCE value of <0.07 predicted LVEF <40 % with a sensitivity of 0.93 and a specificity of 0.96 (AUC 0.98, 95 % CI 0.90 to 1.0, P < 0.001). A CCE value of >0.12 predicted LVEF ≥50 % with a sensitivity of 0.96 and a specificity of 0.82 (AUC 0.94, 95 % CI 0.87 to 1.0, P < 0.001). A CCE value <0.12 predicted E a/E es ≥1.3 with a sensitivity of 0.93 and a specificity of 0.89 (AUC 0.94, 95 % CI 0.83 to 1.0, P < 0.001).

Conclusions

PWA-derived variables provide relevant information on cardiac contractility and performance in critically ill patients. PWA provides an easy method for online hemodynamic evaluation in critically ill patients.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank Vygon Health (Padua, Italy) for kindly providing the Most Care device, but all other costs were covered by departmental funds only.

Conflicts of interest

S. Scolletta has received lecture fees and material for studies from Vygon, and grants and material for studies from Edwards Lifesciences; D. De Backer has received honoraria for lectures and grants for studies from Edwards Lifesciences. The other authors declare they have no conflicts of interest related to this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Intensive Care, Erasme University Hospital, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Route de Lennik, 808, 1070, Brussels, Belgium

    Sabino Scolletta, Laurent Bodson, Katia Donadello, Fabio S. Taccone, Alessandro Devigili, Jean-Louis Vincent & Daniel De Backer

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  1. Sabino Scolletta
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  2. Laurent Bodson
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  3. Katia Donadello
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  7. Daniel De Backer
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Correspondence to Daniel De Backer.

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Scolletta, S., Bodson, L., Donadello, K. et al. Assessment of left ventricular function by pulse wave analysis in critically ill patients. Intensive Care Med 39, 1025–1033 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00134-013-2861-8

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