[A pilot assessment of the FloTrac cardiac output monitoring system comparing with pulmonary artery catheter method by three versions].

BACKGROUND: Clinical significance of PA catheter is controversial. FloTrac sensor bases its calculations on arterial waveform characteristics. We conducted a pilot assessment of the FloTrac sensor by three versions comparing with pulmonary artery catheter (PCA) methodology.

METHODS: Five patients undergoing cardiac surgery and four patients undergoing renal transplantation were enrolled. A PAC was inserted and radial arterial access was used for semi-invasive determination of CO (APCO) with the Vigileo. CO was measured simultaneously by bolus thermodilution and the Vigileo technique, and CCO was measured simultaneously.

RESULTS: The correlation with output obtained by FloTrac and obtained by PCA is better with the newer version. Bland Altman analyses demonstrated better agreement between FloTrac and PCA methodology of the newer version.

CONCLUSIONS: CO measured by a new semi-invasive arterial pressure waveform analysis device showed better agreement with pulmonary artery thermodilution measurement of the newer version.