Ultrasonic cardiac output monitor provides effective non-invasive bedside measurements of neonatal cardiac output

This study determined the accuracy and validity for the haemodynamic parameters of haemodynamically stable neonates after postnatal circulatory adaptation using the ultrasonic cardiac output monitor (USCOM) in comparison with echocardiography. We conducted a prospective, observational study of neonates born at 23–41 weeks of gestation. They all underwent both echocardiography and USCOM assessments for comparison purposes. The 127 neonates were examined at the median of postmenstrual age of 35 weeks and there was a very high correlation between the cardiac output measurements provided by both methods. The mean difference in cardiac output was − 12 ± 25 ml/kg/min, with percentage error of 8.3 ± 6.9%. A larger bias was observed in cases with higher left ventricular output. Bland–Altman analysis confirmed no significant bias, with acceptable limits of agreement between these two methods. There was a very good correlation between the USCOM and echocardiographic methods when we used them to measure cardiac output in neonates.