• B Bouhemad, T Barbry, A Soummer, Q Lu, and J J Rouby.
• Réanimation Chirurgicale, Département d'Anesthésie-Réanimation, Groupe Hospitalier Paris Saint Joseph, Paris, Cedex 14 France - belaid_bouhemad@hotmail.com.
• Minerva Anestesiol. 2014 May 1;80(5):517-25.

BackgroundLung ultrasound can be used at bedside to assess initial lung morphology in hypoxemic patients. We hypothesized that blood flow in consolidated lung and therefore effects of inhaled nitric oxide (iNO) and intravenous almitrine could be directly assessed using Doppler transesophageal echocardiography (TEE).MethodsWe conducted a prospective study including 13 ALI patients with consolidated left lower lobe (LLL). Regional arterial and venous flow signals within the consolidation were recorded with TEE using Doppler at baseline, after iNO (5 ppm), almitrine (4 μg/kg/min) and their combination. Pulmonary shunt (Qs/Qt) was measured using a Swan-Ganz catheter. Arterial and venous velocity time integral (VTI), peak velocity (Vmax) and mean velocity (Vmean) were measured. Patients were responders if PaO2 basal value increased by 20% after iNO or almitrine.ResultsIn 7 NO responders, iNO decreased regional arterial VTI (8.1±1.9 vs. 6.7±1.6, P<0.05). In 8 almitrine responders, almitrine decreased regional arterial and venous VTI (from 6.7±2.0 to 4.5±2.3 cm and from 12.3±5.4 to 7.5±3.8 cm, respectively, P<0.05). For all patients, combination of iNO and almitrine decreased regional arterial and venous VTI (from 7.3±0.3 to 4.1±0.3 cm and from 12.6±0.7 to 6.7±0.8 cm, respectively, P<0.05). Arterial and venous Vmean and Vmax significantly decreased. Variations of arterial VTI and venous Vmean were correlated to variations of Qs/Qt (r=.71, P<.001 and r=.62, P<.01, respectively).ConclusionDoppler of consolidated LLL allows assessment of regional pulmonary circulation in ICU settings. It detects changes in flow profiles resulting from the administration of NO and/or almitrine. Further applicability remains to be determined.

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