[What's the best assessment of preload after cardiac surgery?].

Objective: The assessment of the role of transesophageal echocardiography and invasive tests with pulmonary modified catheter to monitor the preload indexes in patients in intensive-care-unit after cardiac coronary surgery.

Materials And Methods: Between January and December 2004 24 patients (14 male, 10 female) with coronary artery disease were prospectively enrolled for preload assessment during off-pump myocardial revascularization. Pulmonary Capillary Wedge Pressure (PCWP), Left Ventricular End Diastolic Indexed Area (LVEDAI), delta Aortic Velocity (deltaVAo), Right Ventricular End Diastolic Volume (RVEDVI) as preload indexes were evaluated.