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Low and “supranormal” central venous oxygen saturation and markers of tissue hypoxia in cardiac surgery patients: a prospective observational study

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Abstract

Purpose

To characterize incidence of low, normal and “supranormal” central venous oxygen saturation (ScvO2) and the relation to markers of tissue hypoxia, course and outcome in cardiac surgery patients.

Methods

Prospective, observational study in a university multidisciplinary 50-bed intensive care unit including 205 consecutive patients undergoing elective cardiac surgery. Data were split into training and test data sets and subjected to 50 replications of fivefold cross-validation to estimate lower and upper bounds of ScvO2 indicative of impaired tissue oxygenation.

Results

Both low (≤60.8%) and supranormal (≥77.4%) ScvO2 were associated with an unfavorable course, while the logistic EuroSCORE for risk adjustment was comparable between groups. Incidences of abnormal ScvO2 were 13.2% low and 30.7% supranormal. Patients with low ScvO2 and an uneventful course initially presented with normal lactate levels, whereas patients with supranormal ScvO2 displayed consistently higher serum lactate levels. High ScvO2 values were associated with the use of β-mimetics and signs of systemic inflammation. Mortality rates were comparable for patient populations presenting either low (14.8%) or supranormal ScvO2 (7.9%) and higher than normals (0%, p < 0.001). Lactate was comparably increased in patients that ultimately died, irrespective whether they had low or supranormal ScvO2 values. In contrast, neither low nor supranormal ScvO2 was associated with altered gastric pCO2.

Conclusions

High ScvO2 is an under-recognized warning sign for impaired tissue oxygenation in the peri-operative period. Including values ≥77.4% as ‘normal’ impaired performance of ScvO2 monitoring to predict a complicated perioperative course.

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Abbreviations

aiDCO2 :

Arterio-intestinal pCO2-gradient

AUC:

Area under the curve

CABG:

Coronary artery bypass graft

DO2 :

Oxygen delivery

pCO2 :

Partial pressure of carbon dioxide

SAPS II:

Simplified Acute Physiology Score II

ScvO2 :

Central venous oxygen saturation

SaO2 :

Arterial oxygen saturation

SIRS:

Systemic inflammatory response syndrome

SOFA:

Sepsis-related Organ Failure Assessment

VO2 :

Oxygen uptake

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Correspondence to Andreas Kortgen.

Additional information

The study was performed at the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Therapy, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany.

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Perz, S., Uhlig, T., Kohl, M. et al. Low and “supranormal” central venous oxygen saturation and markers of tissue hypoxia in cardiac surgery patients: a prospective observational study. Intensive Care Med 37, 52–59 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00134-010-1980-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00134-010-1980-8

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