New acoustic window for assessing the inferior vena cava collapsibility in humans in the prone position

Objective: Ultrasound assessment of inferior vena cava (IVC) collapsibility is performed todetermine the volume status of critically ill patients. We propose a new acoustic windowfor visualizing a vein in a prone patient.Case Presentation: A healthy volunteer took part in the study. The study protocol includestwo stages: ۱) performing a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination to determinethe projection of a certain IVC area on the posterior chest surface (holotopy), ۲) performingan ultrasound scanning in the area of IVC projection in order to identify it and determineits dimensions.Conclusion: The ۱۱th intercostal space parallel to the paraspinal line allows to visualizethe IVC in the prone position. This gives a potential opportunity to use it to assess the IVCcollapsibility. Its potential advantage is the ability to assess the compressibility of IVC inthe antero-posterior direction

Keywords:

Ultrasound , Hemodynamics , Volume status , Monitoring , Point-of-care