Cardiac function evaluated by transesophageal echocardiography during cardiopulmonary bypass.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate cardiac function at cardiopulmonary bypass weaning, we applied a new technique clinically to determine the approximated Emax without using a conductance catheter.


METHODS
Subjects were 5 patients. The left ventricular end-systolic pressure was obtained by overlaying the radial arterial pressure curve on the left ventricular pressure curve. Left ventricular end-systolic volume was assessed by a transesophageal echographic apparatus. At cardiopulmonary bypass weaning, volume loading was applied to increase left atrial pressure by a few mmHg while fixing the pump flow rate at half flow. Changes in left ventricular end-systolic volume and approximated left ventricular end-systolic pressure for total heart beat were plotted during this period, and the gradient of the regression line was taken as approximated Emax.


RESULTS
Approximated Emax ranged from 1.29 to 3.28 (mean 2.13 +/- 0.72), and its correlation coefficient was 0.80 +/- 0.06.


CONCLUSIONS
Our new technique is useful in evaluating cardiac function during cardiopulmonary bypass.
Kubota
H
H
Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, University of Tokyo, Japan.
Furuse
A
A
Kotsuka
Y
Y
Ninomiya
M
M
Miyaji
K
K
Endo
M
M
Takamoto
S
S
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002315:Cardiopulmonary Bypass; D002648:Child; D017548:Echocardiography, Transesophageal; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016277:Ventricular Function, Left / Q000502:physiology*