• Patrick F Wouters, Bert Quaghebeur, Paul Sergeant, Jan Van Hemelrijck, and Eugène Vandermeersch.
• Department of Anesthesiology, University Hospitals Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium. patrick.wouters@uz.kuleuven.ac.be
• J. Cardiothorac. Vasc. Anesth. 2005 Apr 1; 19 (2): 160-4.

ObjectiveTo investigate the accuracy of cardiac output measurements by transpulmonary thermodilution and pulse contour analysis using a brachial arterial catheter.Study DesignCriterion standard study.SettingUniversity hospital, single institution.PopulationTwenty-three adult patients undergoing off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting.Measurements And Main ResultsCardiac output was measured with a thermistor-tipped brachial arterial catheter using pulse contour analysis (COpc) and transpulmonary thermodilution (COba), which serves to calibrate COpc in the system tested. Both methods were compared separately with standard pulmonary artery thermodilution (COpa). COba was closely correlated with COpa (r = 0.93, p < 0.001). Bland-Altman analysis showed a bias of 0.91 L/min with limits of agreement of +/-0.98 L/min. COpc was also closely correlated (r = 0.80, p < 0.001) with COpa and was found to have a bias of 1.08 L/min with limits of agreement of +/-1.50 L/min. During the surgical procedure, changes in COpa from baseline were closely correlated with changes in COba (r = 0.90, p < 0.01) and COpc (r = 0.81, p < 0.01).ConclusionsThe brachial arterial access allows a reliable assessment of cardiac output by transpulmonary thermodilution and pulse contour analysis in patients undergoing off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting.

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