Comparison of bedside measurement of cardiac output with the thermodilution method and the Fick method in mechanically ventilated patients

Introduction Bedside cardiac output determination is a common preoccupation in the critically ill. All available methods have drawbacks. We wished to re-examine the agreement between cardiac output determined using the thermodilution method (QT THERM) and cardiac output determined using the metabolic (Fick) method (QT FICK) in patients with extremely severe states, all the more so in the context of changing practices in the management of patients. Indeed, the interchangeability of the methods is a clinically relevant question; for instance, in view of the debate about the risk–benefit balance of right heart catheterization.