[Mixed venous oxygen saturation as optimization of the therapeutic response in low output syndrome]

The Authors report on their experience about SvO2 continuous monitoring in order to find out the best therapeutic answer to inotropic drugs, knowing that, at constant values of SaO2 and Hb, possible variations of SvO2 reliably correspond with parallel variations of cardiac index (IC). Two groups of 15 patients each, suffering from low out-put syndrome, have been studied; patients have been treated with inotropic therapy based on Dobutamina and Amrinone. The 2 groups only differed from each other for the kind of monitoring: the first group was exposed to intermittent measurements of the cardiac out-put, while the second group was exposed to continuous monitoring of SvO2. Analysing the obtained results, the Authors notice not only a close correlation between the improvement of SvO2 and IC, but also a significant rediction in time required to dose drugs, owing to the constant help provided by on-line monitoring of SvO2. (table; see text)