Echocardiographic detection of transpulmonary bubble transit during acute respiratory distress syndrome

Annals of Intensive Care

Table 2 Hemodynamic and echocardiographic variables in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome according to transpulmonary bubble transit

		Transpulmonary bubble transit
		Absent-or-minor	Moderate-to-large
	N ^a	( n = 159)	( n = 57)	p value
Hemodynamic variables^b
Heart rate, bpm	212	96 ± 26	105 ± 24	0.02
Heart rate/respiratory rate ratio	205	3.8 ± 1.1	4.1 ± 1.1	0.15
Systolic arterial pressure, mmHg	205	112 ± 20	113 ± 22	0.94
Mean arterial pressure, mmHg	202	74 ± 13	75 ± 14	0.86
Hemodynamic support^b	216
Norepinephrine		101 (64%)	35 (61%)	0.78
Dobutamine		6 (4%)	3 (5%)	0.63
Epinephrine		9 (6%)	4 (7%)	0.71
Echocardiographic variables
Superior vena cava respiratory collapsibility, %	181	20 (14%)	13 (26%)	0.047
Maximum atrial septal excursion, mm	162	12 ± 4	12 ± 4	0.82
E/A ratio	171	1.2 ± 0.5	1.0 ± 0.4	0.02
LV systolic function	59	52 ± 18	57 ± 13	0.46
Cardiac index, L/min/m²	131	2.6 ± 0.9	3.3 ± 1.2	<0.01
Systolic pulmonary artery pressure, mmHg	146	33 ± 17	35 ± 20	0.78
Acute cor pulmonale, n (%)	216	35 (22%)	11 (19%)	0.56

^a N, number of patients in which the parameter could be assessed; ^bhemodynamic variables were recorded at the time of transesophageal echocardiography; PEEP, positive end-expiratory pressure; E/A ratio, ratio of early (E) over late (A) peak velocities at the mitral valve; LV, left ventricle.