Prognostic significance of central venous-to-arterial carbon dioxide difference during the first 24 hours of septic shock in patients with and without impaired cardiac function

Patients with septic shock and with AF and/or low LVEF were more prone to a persistent high cv-art CO2 gap, even when initial resuscitation succeeded in normalizing MAP, CVP, and ScvO2. In these patients, a persistent high cv-art CO2 gap at 12 h was significantly associated with higher day 28 mortality.