Assessment of corrected flow time in carotid artery via point-of-care ultrasonography: Reference values and the influential factors

Assessment of Corrected Flow Time (FTc) in carotid artery has been suggested recently as a measure of intravascular volume status. This study aimed to determine the reference values of FTc in carotid artery in a normal population. A total number of 142 healthy volunteers (73 females and 69 males) with a mean age of 36.65 ± 10.52 years were included. The mean FTc in carotid artery was 325.18 ± 22.15 ms0.5. The mean value of FTc differed significantly between females and males both before and after passive leg raise (PLR) (330.18 ± 21.61 ms0.5 vs. 319.88 ± 21.62, P = 0.005 before PLR, and 336.89 ± 22.95 ms0.5 vs. 326.51 ± 21.21, P = 0.006 after PLR). This study would potentially pave the way to determine clinically significant cutoff points in order to assess the diagnostic accuracy of FTc in predicting intravascular volume status and fluid therapy responsiveness.