Active clinical trials for "Cardiac Output, Low"

Open-heart surgery causes injury of the heart muscle. Although this is usually mild, temporary and reversible, if it is severe it can endanger life and require additional high cost care. During surgery, techniques are used to protect the heart from injury, but these remain imperfect. Patients with a thickened wall of the heart (left ventricular hypertrophy) may be at greater risk. This study assesses the effect of facilitating sugar metabolism (a more efficient fuel) by the heart muscle using the drug Perhexiline given before the operation. This treatment has a sound experimental basis for improving outcome. If this improvement is confirmed surgical results could be improved. The investigators will be studying heart function, heart muscle energy stores and chemicals which quantify the amount of heart muscle injury. The investigators' hypothesis is that Perhexiline will improve the protection of the heart by decreasing damage that may occur during heart surgery.

Pediatric patients, especially infants undergoing open heart surgery have a predictable fall in cardiac index 6 to 18 hours after surgery, the so-called low cardiac output syndrome (LCOS). Patients, who have LCOS require more monitoring, more medication and a longer stay in intensive care unit. To prevent LCOS the phosphodiesterase inhibitor milrinone is routinely used during the first 24 hours after surgery. Levosimendan, a calcium- sensitizer improves cardiac muscle contractile force, vascular smooth muscle relaxation and coronary blood flow through calcium sensitization of the myocardial contractile filaments and opening of potassium channels without increasing oxygen consumption of the heart muscle cells. As the myocardium of infants is more calcium dependent than in later life, levosimendan should be of special benefit in this age group. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether levosimendan is superior to milrinone in preventing LCOS in infants after corrective open heart surgery.

Biomarkers can play a significant role in fluid status assessment intraoperatively.

Changes in volumetric hemodynamic parameters and fluid overload (Cardiac Index,Stroke Volume, Thoracic Fluid Content, Systemic Vascular Resistance) were measured using a impedance cardiography (ICG) (CardioScreen 1000 - Haemodynamic Measurement System, Medis. GmbH Ilmenau) while lifting the leg at different angles. The measurement lasted 12 minutes.

Rational: Preoxygenation is a standard procedure before (deep) sedation in the ED. However, there is literature suggesting that too much oxygen can be harmful. One potential detrimental effect is a decrease in cardiac output due to coronary vasoconstriction. So far, it is unknown if this effect is rate dependent and if it also occurs after only a short period of hyperoxia, as patients experience during procedural sedation pre-oxygenation. Objective: To investigate if hyperoxia has a negative effect on Cardiac index (CI) in patients undergoing procedural sedation in the ED.

Neonates and infants that have cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) for congenital heart disease are at great risk for experiencing life-threatening low cardiac output syndrome (LCOS) in the first 24 hours after surgery. The poor perfusion and inadequate oxygen delivery that occurs may result in multiple organ failure and death. It is LCOS that is responsible for the majority of early postoperative deaths in this population of neonates and infants. Improved pediatric probes placed in peripheral locations using near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) may permit continuous monitoring of venous saturations reflecting overall perfusion and oxygen balance in the tissues. Following parental or guardian consent, 30 neonates and infants scheduled to undergo surgery for congenital heart disease will be enrolled. At the end of surgery, four EQUANOX Advance 8004CB probes will be placed on the flank, lower extremities and the forehead. Continuous NIRS saturations will be monitored and stored for analysis. Point of care (POC) lactates will be obtained after admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) every 2 hours for the first 24 hours postoperatively, then once at 48 hours. The association between NIRS oxygen saturation and POC lactate values will be assessed using mixed linear models taking into account the repeated measures design. Exploratory analyses will be performed to assess whether NIRS oxygen saturation is associated with outcomes such as days in ICU, adverse events and mortality. The ability to use noninvasive, continuous monitoring for overall perfusion and cardiac output will allow better and earlier therapy for neonates and infants following cardiac surgery.

The capnodynamic method non-invasively calculates effective pulmonary blood flow (EPBF) continuously during surgery. In this study EPBF is compared to cardiac output (CO) measured with Transpulmonary Thermodilution (TPTD) att baseline and during hemodynamic changes in patients scheduled for open abdominal surgery at the Karolinska University Hospital, Solna, Sweden.

This study evaluates the effect of heart-lung bypass on babies undergoing cardiac surgery. The investigators want to learn more about the inflammation that exposure to bypass creates in the body by studying markers of inflammation and cell injury in the bloodstream. Additionally, the investigators want to examine if these markers can predict which babies develop post-surgical complications. The hypothesis is that babies who undergo bypass will have higher levels of these markers than babies not exposed to bypass and that these markers will correlate with how the baby does clinically after surgery. This study will evaluate markers via blood sampling in babies with congenital heart disease who do not undergo cardiac surgery, those that undergo surgery without bypass, and those that undergo surgery with bypass. The overall goal is that this study will lead to useful biomarkers and lay the groundwork for future novel therapies aimed at improving outcomes for babies who require heart-lung bypass.

Intermittent episodes of hypoxemia and/or bradycardia, also defined as cardio-respiratory events (CRE) are very frequent in preterm infants and may result in transient hypoxia and hypoperfusion of target organs, with possible clinical implications. The hemodynamic instability that characterizes the first 72 hours of life, also called as transitional period, place preterm infants at high risk of complications and may contribute to enhance fluctuations in end-organ perfusion and oxygenation induced by CRE. In this study we aimed to explore cardiovascular and cerebrovascular changes determined by different CRE types in preterm infants during the transitional period.

The aim of the present study is to assess the best echocardiographic parameters (GLS, GLS rate and standard echocardiographic parameters) predicting LCOS in on-pump mitral surgery.