Letter
Do fluctuations of PaCO2 impact on the venous-arterial carbon dioxide gradient?
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* Corresponding author: Jerome Morel jerome.morel@chu-st-etienne.fr
1 Département d'anesthésie réanimation, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Saint Etienne, 42055 Saint Etienne cedex 02, France
2 Service de Physiologie Clinique et de l'Exercice, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Saint Etienne, 42055 Saint Etienne Cedex 02, France
Critical Care 2011, 15:456 doi:10.1186/cc10528
See related letter by Mallat, http://ccforum.com/content/16/1/408
Published: 24 November 2011First paragraph (this article has no abstract)
The mixed venous-arterial difference in carbon dioxide tension (ΔCO2) has been proposed as an index of the adequacy of tissue perfusion in septic shock. Indeed, ΔCO2 increases with low cardiac output or inadequate microcirculatory perfusion [1,2]. Because carbon dioxide by itself can influence vascular tone [3] we hypothesized that, in the same patient, changes in the arterial partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PaCO2) can influence ΔCO2 values.