Biological variation of the cardiac index in patients with stable chronic heart failure: inert gas rebreathing compared with impedance cardiography.

ABSTRACT:

Aims

In chronic heart failure (CHF), changes in cardiac function define the course of the disease. The cardiac index (CI) is the most adequate indicator of cardiac function. Interpretation of serial CI measurements, however, requires knowledge of the biological variation of CI. Because measurements of CI can be confounded by the clinical situation or the method applied, biological variation might be subject to the same confounders.

Methods and results

We prospectively included 50 CHF patients who met rigid criteria for clinical stability. CI was measured by both inert gas rebreathing (IGR) and impedance cardiography (ICG) in weekly intervals over 3 weeks-each measurement performed at rest (IGR_rest/ICG_rest) and during low-exercise 10 Watt pedalling (IGR<

SUBMITTER: Tager T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5032993 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature