Noninvasive measurement of arterial blood pressure in patients with continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices: a systematic review

Accurate mean blood pressure determination is essential to prevent adverse events in patients with continuous-flow left ventricular assist devices (CFLVAD). We sought to evaluate the accuracy of noninvasive methods of blood pressure measurement compared with invasive intra-arterial recordings in patients with CFLVAD. Systematic electronic search was performed on four online databases (PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and Web of Knowledge) for the terms “Blood Pressure” AND (“Heart-Assist Devices” OR “Left ventricular Assist Devices”). Only studies that compared an intra-arterial and noninvasive blood pressure measurement were included. Electronic search of scientific literature identified 5968 articles. After deduplication, screening of titles and abstracts, full-text review, and excluding incorrect populations and comparator, a total of 12 studies with 502 participants were included, of those 402 participants who had intra-arterial blood pressure measurement. Doppler mean arterial blood pressure showed a very high correlation with mean intra-arterial blood pressure ( r = 0.97, r = 0.87) in low pulsatility situations. When the pulsatility was not evaluated, the correlation was high moderate ( r = 0.63, r = 0.741). In low pulsatility situations, the correlation was moderate to high moderate ( r = 0.42 to r = 0.65). Oscillometer automatic blood pressure cuff showed a moderate to very high correlation with intra-arterial mean arterial blood pressure ( r = 0.42, r = 0.86) but also could be low in the context of low pulsatility associated with inconsistent success in noninvasive measurement ( r = 0.25). Studies correlating intra-arterial with noninvasive techniques were performed in the context of routine clinical care using fluid-filled catheters. The degree of correlation between both methods is at least moderate.