• Renan Maloni Augusto, André Luis Pereira Albuquerque, Thomas Jaeger, Carlos Roberto Ribeiro de Carvalho, and Pedro Caruso.
• Pulmonary Division, Heart Institute (InCor), Hospital das Clínicas, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
• Respir Care. 2017 Feb 1; 62 (2): 215-221.

BackgroundThe use of esophageal catheters with microtransducer promises advantages over traditional catheters with air-filled balloons. However, performance comparisons between these 2 types of catheters are scarce and incomplete.MethodsA catheter with a 9.5-cm air-filled balloon at the distal tip and a catheter with a microtransducer mounted within a flexible silicone rubber were tested in vitro and in vivo. In vitro, the response times of both catheters were compared, and the drift of the baseline pressure of the microtransducer catheter was evaluated over a 6-h period. In vivo, 11 healthy volunteers had both catheters inserted, and the drift of the baseline esophageal pressure was measured over a 3-h period. Also, the correlation and agreement of the baseline and changes in the esophageal pressure of both catheters were evaluated.ResultsIn vitro, the microtransducer catheter had a response time significantly higher (262 × 114 Hz, P < .01) and a good pressure stability, with a mean baseline pressure drift of 1.4 cm H2O. In vivo, both catheters presented a small and similar baseline esophageal pressure drift (P = 0.08). For measurements of baseline and changes in esophageal pressure, the correlation and agreement between the catheters were poor, with a large bias between them.ConclusionsThe catheter with the microtransducer had a small baseline pressure drift, similar to the air-filled balloon catheter. The low agreement between the catheters does not allow the microtransducer catheter to be used as a surrogate for the traditional air-filled balloon catheter.Copyright © 2017 by Daedalus Enterprises.

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