Dados do Trabalho

Título

Comparison between carbon dioxide and oxygen derived variables as mortality predictors in septic patients admitted to Intensive Care Units.

Objetivo

To compare the discriminatory power of central venous oxygen saturation, venous to arterial CO2 difference and venous-arterial CO2 to arterial-venous O2 Ratio as mortality predictors in septic patients admitted to Intensive Care Units (ICU).

Métodos

Prospective, multicentric cohort which took place in two tertiary hospitals, one in Brazil and the other in Italy. Hemoglobin, arterial and central venous blood gas, routinely collected by the ICU team, data were analyzed, aiming to calculate the oxygen and carbon dioxide derived variables. In order to assess the discriminatory power of the variables, we used receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis in the dichotomous discrimination survivors vs. non-survivors.

Resultados

We included a total of 81 patients. Central venous oxygen saturation, venous to arterial CO2 difference and venous-arterial CO2 to arterial-venous O2 ratio were different between survivors and non-survivors. The areas under the ROC curve of these variables for in-hospital mortality were 0.63 (0.51 – 0.75), 0.69 (0.58 – 0.81), and 0.77 (0.66 – 0 .87), respectively.

Conclusão

The analyzed variables showed to be moderate predictors of mortality in our sample. The venous-arterial CO2 to arterial-venous O2 ratio demonstrated to be the most accurate between the ones analysed and its use may help in routine care of septic patients.