• Maren Tomaske, Walter Knirsch, Oliver Kretschmar, Christian Balmer, Katja Woitzek, Achim Schmitz, Urs Bauersfeld, Markus Weiss, and Working Group on Noninvasive Haemodynamic Monitoring in Paediatrics.
• Division of Cardiology, University Children's Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland. maren.tomaske@kispi.uzh.ch
• Eur J Anaesthesiol. 2009 May 1;26(5):412-5.

Background And ObjectiveTo evaluate the noninvasive electrical velocimetry (Aesculon) monitor for cardiac output (CO) by subxiphoidal Doppler flow measurement in children.MethodsCO was determined at the end of diagnostic or interventional cardiac catheterization for congenital heart defects. Standard ECG surface electrodes were attached in a vertical direction to the patients' left middle and lower neck, and lower thorax at the level of the heart and xiphoid process. Aesculon CO data were compared with a simultaneously measured CO by the subxiphoidal Doppler flow measurement technique. For each patient, measurements were repeated three times within 5 min. Whitney U-test, simple regression and Bland-Altman analysis were performed to compare CO values obtained by the two techniques. Data are given as range (median).ResultsA total of 36 children aged 5.7 (0.5-16.0) years were investigated. CO values obtained by Aesculon monitor [0.55-5.58 (2.62) l min] and subxiphoidal Doppler flow measurements [0.62-6.27 (3.05) l min] differed significantly between both methods (P = 0.04). Simple regression analysis revealed moderate correlation between CO values obtained from the two techniques (r = 0.5544, P < 0.001). Bias between the two methods was 0.31 l min with a precision of 1.92 l min.ConclusionWe conclude that electrical velocimetry using the Aesculon monitor does not reliably reflect absolute CO values as compared with subxiphoidal Doppler flow measurement.

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