Transcutaneously measured near-infrared spectroscopic liver tissue oxygenation does not correlate with hepatic venous oxygenation in children.

PURPOSE

To compare transcutaneous near-infrared spectroscopic (NIRS) measured liver tissue oxygenation with hepatic vein oxygen saturation (SvhO2) in children undergoing cardiac catheterization.

METHODS

A NIRS optode (containing an emitter and a receiver of near-infrared light) was placed directly below the right costal arch above the palpable liver in 40 children aged 0.02 to 7.28 yr (median: 1.8 yr). Spatially resolved spectroscopic measured tissue oxygenation index (TOI) was recorded using the NIRO-300. Paired blood samples from the hepatic vein were taken under radiological control for determination of SvhO2 in a co-oxymeter. TOI values were compared with hepatic vein oxygenation, with simultaneously obtained arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2), inferior vena cava SO2 and hemoglobin concentration using simple linear and multi-regression analysis.

RESULTS

TOI values ranged from 35% to 73% (58.6 +/- 8.4%); SvhO2 from 32% to 80% (58.4 +/- 14.4%), and arterial SO2 from 54% to 100% (90.0 +/- 11.4%). TOI and hepatic vein oxygen saturation failed to correlate (r = 0.052/P = 0.752). A regression model containing arterial saturation (Delta R2 = 0.177) and the ratio of pulmonary to systemic resistance (Delta R2 = 0.095) explained 27.3% of the observed variance in TOI. In this model, hepatic vein oxygen saturation was no longer significant; explaining only 3.4% of the variance. No other variable retained a significant association.

CONCLUSION

Transcutaneously measured NIRS tissue oxygenation with an optode placed over the palpable liver does not correlate with SvhO2. The value is dominated by non-hepatic variables such as arterial saturation and vascular resistances.