Cardiac output measurement by the thermodilution method: an in vitro test of accuracy of three commercially available automatic cardiac output computers.

Objective: To describe the accuracy and the reproducibility of the thermodilution flow measurements obtained using 3 commercially available cardiac output computers commonly used in intensive care units.

Design: An experimental "in vitro" study. Twelve different values of control flow (Qctr) were measured (Qmsr) using 3 different cardiac output computers (Abbott Critical Care System, Oximetrix 3 SvO2/CO Computer, Baxter Oximeter/Cardiac Output Computer SAT-1; American Edwards Laboratories, 9520 A Cardiac Output Computer).