title: Assessment of cardiac output in children: a comparison between the pressure recording analytical method and Doppler echocardiography.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess cardiac output in pediatric patients with the pressure recording analytical method (PRAM) and the Doppler echocardiography method. PRAM derives cardiac output from beat-by-beat analysis of the arterial pressure profile (systolic and diastolic phase) in the time domain.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective observational study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Pediatric intensive care unit at a tertiary care children's hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-eight patients between the ages of 1 month and 18 yrs.
  
  
  METHODS
  Femoral or radial artery catheterization and mechanical ventilation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Cardiac output was simultaneously estimated by Doppler echocardiography and PRAM. Cardiac output values obtained by Doppler echocardiography (2.7 +/- 1.6 L/min, range 0.92-8.20) were significantly correlated with those estimated by PRAM (2.6 +/- 1.7 L/min, range 0.89-7.48; r2 = .99, p < .01). The mean difference between the two estimates was 0.12 +/- 0.27 L x min(-1) (95% confidence interval, -0.54 to 0.77 L x min(-1)).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In the range of ages evaluated, PRAM provides reliable estimates of cardiac output when compared with noninvasive techniques.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Meyer Children's Hospital, Florence, Italy. m.calamandrei@meyer.it
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Calamandrei
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mirabile
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Muschetta
authors.forename: Gian Franco
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Gensini
authors.forename: Luciano
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: De Simone
authors.forename: Salvatore M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Romano
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002302:Cardiac Output; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D015278:Intensive Care Units, Pediatric; D008297:Male; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic; D011446:Prospective Studies