title: The PhysioFlow thoracic impedancemeter is not valid for the measurements of cardiac hemodynamic parameters in chronic anemic patients.
abstract: The aim of the present study was to test the validity of the transthoracic electrical bioimpedance method PhysioFlow® to measure stroke volume in patients with chronic anemia. Stroke volume index (SVI), as well as cardiac index (CI) obtained by transthoracic electrical bioimpedance method and doppler echocardiography were compared in healthy subjects (n = 25) and patients with chronic anemia (i.e. mainly with sickle cell anemia; n = 32), at rest. While doppler echocardiography was able to detect difference in SVI between the two populations, the Physioflow® failed to detect any difference. Bland & Altman analyses have demonstrated no interchangeability between the two methods to assess CI and SVI in anemic patients and healthy subjects. While doppler echocardiography displayed a good concordance for SVI results with those obtained in the literature for anemic patients, the Physioflow® did not. Finally, in contrast to doppler echocardiography: 1) the CI obtained with the Physioflow® was not correlated with the hemoglobin level and 2) the stroke volume determined by the Physioflow® was highly influenced by body surface area. In conclusion, our findings indicate that the Physioflow® device is inaccurate for the measurement of SVI and CI in patients with chronic anemia and has a poor accuracy for the measurement of these parameters in African healthy subjects.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Physiologie et d'Explorations Fonctionnelles, Unité de Formation et de Recherche en Sciences Médicales, Université Félix Houphouët Boigny, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire ; Service des explorations fonctionnelles et endoscopiques, Centre hospitalier universitaire de Yopougon, Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bogui
authors.forename: Edwige
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Balayssac-Siransy
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Connes
authors.forename: Nalourgo
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tuo
authors.forename: Soualiho
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ouattara
authors.forename: Aurélien
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pichon
authors.forename: Cyrille Serges
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Dah
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000740:Anemia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D007560:Cote d'Ivoire; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler / Q000379:methods; D017097:Electric Impedance; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013318:Stroke Volume