Beat-by-beat volume calibration refines pressure-volume derived indices of left ventricular function in the rat
Authors: Wearing Oliver , West Christopher 
Published: May 2023

Objective: Cardiac pressure-volume studies have advanced much of our understanding of mammalian cardiovascular physiology. Using admittance or conductance technology, the advantage of this technology over other methods to assess cardiovascular function is the ability to derive beat-by-beat pressure-volume loops and generate estimations of myocardial work (stroke work), as well as load-independent systolic (i.e., contractility) and diastolic (i.e., compliance) function from a caval occlusion. While these catheters are capable of extremely accurate recordings of cardiac pressure, volume measurement relies on a series of calibration steps that are oft-performed in isolation or at discrete timepoints. We propose a novel method that enables the refinement of ventricular volume measurement by enabling a beat-by-beat calibration of stroke volume (SV) at baseline and, most importantly, during caval occlusion where both the shape and characteristics of the ventricle are dynamically changing. Hypothesis: We hypothesised that beat-by-beat calibration of SV has a significant effect on PV-catheter derived indices of left ventricle (LV) function. Methodology: Data were collected from 10 rodents that were intubated, ventilated, and urethane anesthetized. We placed an admittance pressure-volume catheter (1.6F Scisense, Transonic Systems, Inc.) into the LV via an apical approach following thoracotomy, a perivascular flow probe (Transonic Systems, Inc.) was placed around the ascending aorta, a blood pressure catheter in the iliac artery, femoral venous lines for fluid/drug infusions, and an arterial line for blood gas analysis. We then assessed baseline and load-independent systolic function using the admittance catheter with and without beat-by-beat volume corrections obtained by integration of the perivascular flow data. Results: Firstly, we confirmed that the standard metrics of load-independent systolic function were increased in response to dobutamine (β1 agonist) and reduced in response to esmolol (β1 blocker). We then found that beat-by-beat volume correction from the perivascular flow probe increased baseline measures of SV and stroke work (SW). Comparing indices of load-independent systolic function calculated from corrected vs. uncorrected values of SV and SW, we found that beat-by-beat volume correction resulted in no significant change in d P/dtmax- V ed (P=0.339) but a significant increase in PRSW (from 116±18 to 129±20 mmHg, P=0.020). Conclusions: Standard approaches to PV studies are able to accurately discern changes in contractile state. However, beat-by-beat calibration of the volume signal improves the absolute determination of volume indices and therefore influences derived measures of contractility. This research was funded by an NSERC Alliance grant to CRW and Mitacs Accelerate Postdoctoral Fellowship to OHW. This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2023 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.