Volume responsiveness revisited: an observational multicenter study of continuous versus binary outcomes combining echocardiography and venous return physiology.

Echocardiography can assess cardiac preload when fluid administration is used to treat acute circulatory failure. Changes in stroke volume (SV) are inherently a continuous phenomenon relating to the pressure gradient for venous return (VRdP). However, most clinical studies have applied a binary definition based on a fractional change in SV. This study tested the hypothesis that calculating the analog mean systemic filling pressure (P) and VRdP would enhance echocardiography to describe SV responses to a preload challenge. We investigated 540 (379 males) patients during a standardized passive leg raising (PLR) maneuver. Patients were further categorized by the presence of impaired right ventricular function (impRV) or increased intra-abdominal hypertension (IAH). Multivariable linear regression identified VRdP (partial = -0.26, < 0.001), ventilatory-induced variations in superior vena cava diameter (partial = 0.43, < 0.001), and left ventricular outflow tract maximum-Doppler velocity (partial = 0.13, < 0.001) as independent variables associated with SV changes. The model explained 38% ( < 0.001) of the SV change in the whole cohort and 64% ( < 0.001) when excluding patients with impRV or IAH. The correlation between P or VRdP and SV changes lost statistical significance with increasing impRV or IAH. A binary definition of volume responsiveness (>10% increase in SV) generated an area under the curve of 0.79 ( < 0.001) in logistic regression but failed to identify P or VRdP as independent variables and overlooked the confounding influence of impRV and IAH. In conclusion, venous return physiology may enhance echocardiographic assessments of volume responsiveness, which should be based on continuous changes in stroke volume. The analog mean systemic filling pressure and the pressure gradient for venous return combined with echocardiography predict continuous changes in stroke volume following a passive leg raising maneuver. The confounding effects of impaired right ventricular function and increased intra-abdominal pressure can be identified. Using a binary cutoff for the fractional change in stroke volume, common in previous clinical research, fails to identify the importance of variables relevant to venous return physiology and confounding conditions.