Cardiac filling volumes versus pressures for predicting fluid responsiveness after cardiovascular surgery: the role of systolic cardiac function

Abstract

Regardless of GEF, CVP may be useful for predicting fluid responsiveness in patients after coronary and major vascular surgery provided that positive end-expiratory pressure is low. When GEF is low (<20%), PAOP is more useful than GEDVI for predicting fluid responsiveness, but when GEF is near-normal (≥20%) GEDVI is more useful than PAOP. This favors predicting and monitoring fluid responsiveness by pulmonary artery catheter-derived filling pressures in surgical patients with systolic left ventricular dysfunction and by transpulmonary thermodilution-derived GEDVI when systolic left ventricular function is relatively normal.