Ultrasound-Calibrated Pulse Contour Cardiac Output Monitoring: Value and Accuracy in Hemodynamic Care

November 3, 2026 updated by: Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology

Accuracy and Decision-Making Value of Ultrasound-Calibrated Pulse Contour Cardiac Output Monitoring for Hemodynamic Management in Critically Ill Patients Compared With PiCCO

This is a single-center prospective clinical study in the intensive care unit (ICU). Thirty adult patients with sepsis requiring hemodynamic monitoring and fluid resuscitation will be enrolled. All participants will undergo two hemodynamic monitoring modalities simultaneously: pulse indicator continuous cardiac output (PiCCO) (reference standard) and arterial pulse contour cardiac output (APCO, ultrasound-calibrated pulse-contour cardiac output). The study aims to evaluate the consistency of clinical decision-making for fluid resuscitation guided by APCO compared with PiCCO, and to verify the accuracy of cardiac output (CO) measured by APCO. No investigational drugs will be administered. A standardized fluid challenge will be performed based on clinical indications. Hemodynamic parameters, laboratory results, and adverse events will be collected throughout the ICU stay.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Detailed Description

Accurate hemodynamic assessment and fluid management are critical for septic patients in ICU. PiCCO using transpulmonary thermodilution is widely regarded as reference standard for cardiac output measurement, but it has limitations including high cost and potential catheter-related complications. APCO combines transthoracic echocardiography calibration with radial-artery pulse contour analysis, which may provide continuous cardiac output monitoring with lower complication risks.

In this prospective self-controlled study, 30 eligible adult sepsis patients fulfilling Sepsis-3 criteria will be recruited at Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology. Each subject will undergo concurrent PiCCO and APCO measurements. Study visits include baseline screening (V1), dynamic monitoring when fluid infusion indication appears (V2), post-resuscitation assessment (V3), and follow-up until PiCCO catheter removal (V4). 500-mL crystalloid fluid challenge over 15 minutes will be conducted for patients with positive fluid responsiveness assessed by passive leg-raising test. Cardiac output (CO), stroke volume index (SVI) and other hemodynamic variables will be recorded synchronously after each fluid challenge. The primary endpoint is consistency of fluid-resuscitation clinical decisions between APCO and PiCCO, assessed by overall agreement rate and Kappa statistics. Secondary endpoints include bias, percentage error, Bland-Altman limits of agreement and correlation of CO values between two techniques. Safety outcomes include incidence of adverse events and device-related complications. Statistical analyses will be performed using SPSS and R software.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
30

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Contact Backup

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Adult critically ill patients with sepsis admitted to the intensive care unit, who require hemodynamic monitoring with PiCCO and APCO for fluid resuscitation and volume assessment.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Age ≥18 years, admitted to the intensive care unit;
  2. Diagnosed with sepsis according to Sepsis-3 criteria: suspected or confirmed infection with an acute increase in SOFA score ≥2 points from baseline;
  3. Requiring hemodynamic monitoring for volume assessment and fluid resuscitation due to sepsis;
  4. Successfully inserted with central venous catheter and radial arterial catheter, meeting the technical requirements for PiCCO and APCO measurements;
  5. Informed consent signed by the patient or legal surrogate.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Severe arrhythmia (e.g., atrial fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia) precluding pulse contour analysis;
  2. Abnormal arterial access site (e.g., severe radial artery disease, arterial malformation) compromising the quality of invasive blood pressure measurement;
  3. Contraindications to ultrasound examination (e.g., severe thoracic deformity, massive pleural effusion, large intrathoracic space-occupying lesion) that prevents acquisition of clear ultrasound images;
  4. Contraindications for PiCCO monitoring (e.g., hemorrhagic disorders, aortic aneurysm, large-vessel vasculitis, pulmonary embolism, during extracorporeal circulation);
  5. Expected ICU stay ≤ 48 hours;
  6. Any other conditions judged unsuitable for enrollment by the investigator.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Observational Models: COHORT
  • Time Perspectives: PROSPECTIVE

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Agreement in fluid resuscitation decision-making between PiCCO and APCO
Time Frame: Baseline (enrollment); dynamic monitoring (fluid responsiveness assessment); fluid resuscitation phase (end of early resuscitation); and ≥3 times daily in follow-up until PiCCO catheter removal (expected average 7 days), whichever come first.

This outcome assesses the overall agreement rate and Kappa value for consistency of clinical fluid resuscitation decision-making guided by PiCCO and APCO measurements.
Baseline (enrollment); dynamic monitoring (fluid responsiveness assessment); fluid resuscitation phase (end of early resuscitation); and ≥3 times daily in follow-up until PiCCO catheter removal (expected average 7 days), whichever come first.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Percentage error of cardiac output (CO) between PiCCO and APCO
Time Frame: Baseline (enrollment); dynamic monitoring (fluid responsiveness assessment); fluid resuscitation phase (end of early resuscitation); and ≥3 times daily in follow-up until PiCCO catheter removal (expected average 7 days), whichever come first.

This outcome assesses the percentage error of paired cardiac output measurements obtained by PiCCO transpulmonary thermodilution and APCO monitoring.
Baseline (enrollment); dynamic monitoring (fluid responsiveness assessment); fluid resuscitation phase (end of early resuscitation); and ≥3 times daily in follow-up until PiCCO catheter removal (expected average 7 days), whichever come first.
Consistency of cardiac output trend changes after hemodynamic intervention
Time Frame: Baseline (enrollment); dynamic monitoring (fluid responsiveness assessment); fluid resuscitation phase (end of early resuscitation); and ≥3 times daily in follow-up until PiCCO catheter removal (expected average 7 days), whichever come first.

This outcome assesses the consistency of cardiac output trend changes detected by PiCCO transpulmonary thermodilution and APCO monitoring after hemodynamic intervention.
Baseline (enrollment); dynamic monitoring (fluid responsiveness assessment); fluid resuscitation phase (end of early resuscitation); and ≥3 times daily in follow-up until PiCCO catheter removal (expected average 7 days), whichever come first.
Agreement of cardiac output evaluated by Bland-Altman analysis
Time Frame: Baseline (enrollment); dynamic monitoring (fluid responsiveness assessment); fluid resuscitation phase (end of early resuscitation); and ≥3 times daily in follow-up until PiCCO catheter removal (expected average 7 days), whichever come first.

Bland-Altman analysis is used to evaluate the agreement of cardiac output measured by PiCCO and APCO.
Baseline (enrollment); dynamic monitoring (fluid responsiveness assessment); fluid resuscitation phase (end of early resuscitation); and ≥3 times daily in follow-up until PiCCO catheter removal (expected average 7 days), whichever come first.
Pearson correlation of CO between PiCCO and APCO
Time Frame: Baseline (enrollment); dynamic monitoring (fluid responsiveness assessment); fluid resuscitation phase (end of early resuscitation); and ≥3 times daily in follow-up until PiCCO catheter removal (expected average 7 days), whichever come first.

This outcome assesses the Pearson correlation coefficient of paired cardiac output measurements obtained by PiCCO transpulmonary thermodilution and APCO monitoring.
Baseline (enrollment); dynamic monitoring (fluid responsiveness assessment); fluid resuscitation phase (end of early resuscitation); and ≥3 times daily in follow-up until PiCCO catheter removal (expected average 7 days), whichever come first.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Yuan Yu, MD, PhD, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
November 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
June 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
December 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
October 13, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
November 3, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
November 5, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
November 5, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
November 3, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
October 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • ICU2026016
  • UHCT-IEC-SOP-016-03-01 (Other Identifier: Medical Ethics Committee, Un)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

Individual participant data will not be shared publicly due to patient privacy protection and local institutional data regulations. De-identified aggregate study results may be available upon reasonable request to the principal investigator.

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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