Abstract
Impedance cardiography was performed on the cases with and without pulmonary edema. The thoracic resistivity (ρ-chest) was calculated from the assumtion that the thorax is a truncated corn shape. The value of ρ-chest was highest at 10kHz between 2kHz and 200kHz, while the pattern of response was almost same in all frequencies. This response was also same during extra-corporeal ultrafiltration method therapy. ρ-Chest was decreased significantly in the cases of pulmonary edema, and it showed high correlations with pulmonary capillary wedge pressure, hematocrit and body mass index, while Z0 did not. As a conclusion, ρ-chest is a good index for diagnosing pulmonary edema, reflecting the change of thoracic tissue components.
