日本小児循環器学会雑誌 Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery

Circulatory failure is a life threating condition for which every pediatric cardiologist should be prepared to perform physiological analyses, make optimal therapeutic decisions, and secure the best outcome. The correct approach for determining the cause of circulatory failure can accelerate the patients’ recovery from a critical condition, as well as mitigate in allowing their outcome, whereas patients can rapidly deteriorate if their management is inadequate. The integrated concept of cardio-vascular interactions, the pressure-volume relationship, is not novel, but it is vital in allowing clinicians to understand the underlying physiology of circulatory failure. Furthermore, the pressure-volume relationship has the advantage of describing both cardiac function and its loading condition in the same dimension. Accordingly, the pressure-volume relationship can help clinicians to determine the best available therapeutic intervention. This review aimes to convey the initial steps involved in assessing hemodynamic issues in children with circulatory failure.