Cardiac Index by TEB and TD: A longitudinal study in 100 ICU patients

Cardiac Index by TEB and TD: A longitudinal study in 100 ICU patients

A longitudinal prospective study, involving 100 patients (54 men and 46 women, age 20-85 years) with different pathologies, was conducted in our ICU between 1994 and 1997. The Thoracic Electrical Bioimpedance (TEB) data were measured by NCCOM3-R7 (BoMed Medical), the thermodilution (TD) data with Hewlett Packard Model 54S TD computer (Abbott or Arrow 7Fr, 4 lumen TD catheter, 4-8^oC, 10 ml saline, manual injection). Three paired values (a total of 300 sets of simultaneous measurements) were obtained on each patient at three different times. The mean value of the three measurements was then calculated and the results were plotted using the Bland-Altman method (below) - the only correct way to express the clinical agreement between two methods, if neither of them is an absolutely accurate calibration standard.