Self-calibrating pulse contour cardiac output: do validation studies really show its clinical reliability?
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Correspondence: Lester AH Critchley hcritchley@cuhk.edu.hk
Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong, PR China
Critical Care 2009, 13:123 doi:10.1186/cc7718
See related research by Senn et al., http://ccforum.com/content/13/2/R32
Published: 4 March 2009Abstract
The present study was performed to test a new software version of the FloTrac/Vigileo using head-up–head-down tilting in post-cardiac surgery patients. Impressive improvements in Bland and Altman limits of agreement from 37.5% to 21.6% were recorded. The results, however could be attributed to a failure to produce a wide enough range of test circulatory conditions. A more rigorous test of performance is needed before any real conclusion concerning use of the FloTrac/Vigileo in clinical practice can be made.