• Weerapan Wiwatworapan, Nuchapa Ratanajaratroj, and Buncha Sookananchai.
• Department of Medicine, Maharat Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital, Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand. weera1981@yahoo.com
• J Med Assoc Thai. 2012 Mar 1;95(3):320-4.

BackgroundThe inferior vena cava (IVC) diameter is often used to estimate central venous pressure (CVP); however, the correlation and the cutoff of IVC compared with CVP have not yet been described in a Thai-population.Material And MethodA cross-sectional study evaluated the critically ill patients in the medical intensive care unit who had a central venous catheter inserted. The correlation between CVP and IVC diameter measured by a 2-dimensional, long-axis subxiphoid view at the end-expiratory phase with bedside ultrasonography were evaluated.ResultsForty-seven patients with a mean age of 60 +/- 16 years (range, 18 to 91) were studied. Correlation (r) between end-expiration IVC diameter and CVP was 0.75 (95% CI 0.59-0.85; p < 0.0001). An IVC diameter of < or = 10 mm predicted CVP of 10 cmH2O (sensitivity 77% and specificity 91%) and IVC diameter of > or = 15 mm predicted CVP of 15 cmH2O (sensitivity 90% and specificity 89%).ConclusionThe present study indicate that the measurement of the IVC diameter has a good correlation with CVP in Thai-population and useful for assessment of the volume status. The measurement of the IVC by ultrasonography may be an important additional evaluation of critically ill patients.

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