Continuous noninvasive monitoring of cardiac output with esophageal Doppler ultrasound during cardiac surgery.

Esophageal Doppler ultrasonography offers a continuous and noninvasive alternative to standard thermodilution cardiac output monitoring. A total of 372 simultaneous measurements of Doppler and thermodilution cardiac output were compared in 16 patients undergoing cardiac surgery. In addition, echocardiographic aortic diameter measurement, necessary for Doppler calibration, was compared with direct surgical measurement in 23 patients. Echocardiographic aortic measurement was often time consuming and correlated poorly (r = 0.31) with surgical measurement. On the other hand, Doppler cardiac output was determined easily and accurately tracked thermodilution cardiac output (R2 = 0.95, common slope coefficient 1.050, by multiple linear regression). Furthermore, Doppler cardiac output was more reproducible, showing less short-term variability than thermodilution cardiac output. The esophageal Doppler technique allows cardiac output monitoring in patients for whom invasive monitoring is not warranted.