Does forehead liquid crystal temperature accurately reflect "core" temperature?

Liquid crystal thermometry (LCT) is a non-invasive alternative to temperature monitoring. We evaluated the ability of forehead LCT, rectal temperature, and axillary skin temperature to trend distal oesophageal temperature during rapid warming on cardiopulmonary bypass. In 24 patients undergoing open heart surgery, temperatures were measured during the rapid warming phase on bypass (12-35 min). Scattergrams of temperature vs time for the four temperature sites each contained 150 data points. Polynomial regression analysis revealed that LCT, but not axillary or rectal temperatures, correlated with oesophageal temperature. We conclude that forehead LCT may be useful to monitor temperature trends and to detect rapid elevations in body temperature when more invasive temperature monitoring is inappropriate or unavailable.