First Clinical Implications of Perioperative Red Cell Volume Measurement with a Nonradioactive Marker (Sodium Fluorescein)

Abstract

We measured red cell volume changes of 30 patients with the nonradioactive marker sodium fluorescein before and after hemodilution and postoperatively with a high precision. We frequently found large differences between intraoperatively estimated and measured blood loss. Preoperative hematocrit values offered an imprecise estimation of the patients' red cell volume.