A MULTICENTER EVALUATION OF A NEW CONTINUOUS CARDIAC-OUTPUT PULMONARY-ARTERY CATHETER SYSTEM

Objective: To validate a new system of continuous cardiac output monit oring. Design: Multicenter, prospective, nonrandomized clinical study. Setting: Four university hospitals. Patients: Forty-seven adult inten sive care unit patients. Interventions: Pulmonary artery catheterizati on. Measurements and Main Results: Continuous and bolus cardiac output measurements were obtained over 72 hrs. The 327 continuous cardiac ou tput measurements compared favorably with bolus cardiac output measure ments (bias = 0.12 L/min, precision = +/-0.84). The continuous cardiac measurement was not adversely affected by temperatures of < 37 degree s C or > 38 degrees C, high (> 7.5 L/min) or low (< 4.5 L/min) cardiac output values, or duration (72 hrs) of the study. Conclusions: This c ontinuous cardiac output system provides a reliable estimate of cardia c output for clinical use if applied in conditions similar to this stu dy. The combination of a continuous measure of cardiac output with oth er continuous physiologic monitoring (arterial and mixed venous oxygen saturation, oxygen consumption, etc.) may provide important informati on that no single parameter could achieve.