Cerebral oximetry and stroke distance: the future of emergency department monitoring?
OBJECTIVE
To illustrate the possible role of cerebral oximetry and stroke distance as measured by Doppler ultrasound in monitoring the critically ill patient non-invasively in the emergency department.


METHODS
Five critically ill patients were monitored with either cerebral oximetry or both cerebral oximetry and stroke distance (the distance travelled by blood in the aorta with each ventricular contraction), as measured by Doppler ultrasound of the aortic arch.


CONCLUSIONS
Stroke distance as measured by Doppler ultrasound was a good clinical indication of reduced stroke volume and hence of cardiac output. Cerebral oximetry appears to be a useful measure of tissue hypoxia in patients in whom pulse oximetry is either unrecordable or unreliable.
Department of Accident and Emergency Medicine, Royal Preston Hospital, Lancashire, United Kingdom.
I
I
Sammy
J
J
Hanson
M R
MR
James
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001923:Brain Chemistry; D015687:Cell Hypoxia; D016638:Critical Illness; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D006801:Humans; D002534:Hypoxia, Brain / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000379:methods; D010092:Oximetry; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013318:Stroke Volume; D018608:Ultrasonography, Doppler