• Thomas Geeraerts, Pierre Albaladejo, Adrien Descorps Declère, Jacques Duranteau, Jean-Patrick Sales, and Dan Benhamou.
• Department of Anesthesiology and UPRES 3540, Hôpital de Bicêtre, Le Kremlin Bicêtre, France.
• J Trauma. 2004 Apr 1;56(4):845-9.

BackgroundLeft ventricular ejection time (LVET) measured in central arteries is modified during hypovolemia. We compared modifications of the pulse wave in a central artery (carotid) and in a peripheral artery (digital) during central hypovolemia induced by lower body negative pressure (LBNP) in conscious volunteers.MethodsHypovolemia was simulated with progressive LBNP (baseline, -10, -20, and -30 mm Hg) in nine young healthy volunteers. The carotid arterial pressure waveform was recorded using a Millar tonometric method. The digital pulse wave was measured with a volume-clamp method (Finapres) and the stroke volume with a thoracic impedance method (Biomed).ResultsMean arterial pressure did not change during LBNP. Compared with baseline values, heart rate increased significantly at the -30 mm Hg level (68 +/- 13 beats/min vs. 59 +/- 11 beats/min), and stroke volume decreased as soon as -10 mm Hg was achieved (113 +/- 41 mL vs. 127 +/- 35 mL). Both carotid and digital LVET decreased significantly at the -10 mm Hg level (337 +/- 26 and 339 +/- 24 ms vs. 360 +/- 35 and 361 +/- 24 ms, respectively).ConclusionPeripheral LVET could reflect variation of central LVET during LBNP and be a reliable noninvasive parameter for monitoring hypovolemia.

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