The Feasibility of Measuring Renal Blood Flow Using Transesophageal Echocardiography in Patients Undergoing Cardiac Surgery

There is no reliable method to monitor renal blood flow intraoperatively. In this study, we evaluated the feasibility and reproducibility of left renal blood flow measurements using transesophageal echocardiography during cardiac surgery. In this prospective noninterventional study, left renal blood flow was measured with transesophageal echocardiography during three time points (pre-, intra-, and postcardiopulmonary bypass) in 60 patients undergoing cardiac surgery. Sonograms from 6 subjects were interpreted by 2 blinded independent assessors at the time of acquisition and 6 mo later. Interobserver and intraobserver reproducibility were quantified by calculating variability and intraclass correlation coefficients. Patients with Doppler angles of >30 degrees (20 of 60 subjects) were eliminated from renal blood flow measurements. Left renal blood flow was successfully measured and analyzed in 36 of 60 (60%) subjects. Both interobserver and intraobserver variability were