Non-invasive determination of cardiac output by the inert gas rebreathing method in a patient with an axial-flow left-ventricular assist device.

摘要

To the Editor: Cardiac output (CO) is an important parameter in heart failure therapy. Usually, optimal adjustment of the axial-flow left ventricular assist device (LVAD) is performed by echocardiography and by estimation of CO based on a computerized algorithm incorporated into the device. The inert gas rebreathing method (IGR), using the Innocor device, has recently been proposed as a feasible, non-invasive method for the determination of CO, based on the Fick principle. The Innocor device uses the soluble nitrous oxide and the insoluble sulfur hexafluoride as test gases, with their concentrations measured online by a photo-magnetoacoustic gas analyzer.