Abstract
Dye dilution was compared with pulsed doppler for the measurement of cardiac output in eighteen children being ventilated after cardiac surgery. The mean difference between the two techniques was -0.04 l/min (dye minus doppler) with 95% confidence limits of 0.25 l/min and -0.33 l/min over a cardiac output range 0.27–6.12 l/min; this difference is not significant. Calculation of the product-moment correlation coefficient showed a close relationship between the dye dilution and doppler methods with r = 0.97. Pulsed doppler is a new noninvasive technique that can be used instead of dye dilution for the measurement of cardiac output in co-operative or anaesthetised children.
