Stability and feasibility of measurement of lung-to-finger circulation time by simple breath holdings in heart failure patients

Abstract Lung to finger circulation time (LFCT) has been used to estimate cardiac function. We developed a new LFCT measurement device using a laser sensor at fingertip. We measured LFCT by measuring time from re-breathing after 20 seconds of breath hold to the nadir of the difference of transmitted red light and infrared light, which corresponds to percutaneous oxygen saturation. Fifty patients with heart failure were enrolled. The intrasubject stability of the measurement was assessed by the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). The ICC calculated from 44 cases was 0.85 (95% confidence interval:0.77-0.91), which means to have “Excellent reliability.” By measuring twice, at least one clear LFCT value was obtained in 89.1% of patients and the overall measurability was 95.7%. We conducted all LFCT measurements safely. High ICCs were obtained even after dividing patients according to age, cardiac index (CI), and New York Heart Association (NYHA) classification; 0.85 and 0.84 (≥ 75 or < 75 years group, respectively), 0.81 and 0.84 (N=28, ≥ or < 2.2 L/min/M2), 0.82 and 0.94 (NYHA Class I-II or Class III). These results show that our new method to measure LFCT is highly stable and feasible for any type of heart failure patients.