The International Sepsis Forum's frontiers in sepsis: high cardiac output should be maintained in severe sepsis

Despite a usually normal or high cardiac output, severe sepsis is associated with inadequate tissue oxygenation, leading to organ failure and death. Some authors have suggested that raising cardiac output and oxygen delivery to predetermined supranormal values may be associated with improved survival. While this may be of benefit in certain patients, bringing all patients to similar, supranormal values, is simplistic. It is much preferable to titrate therapy according to the needs of each individual patient. A combination of variables should be used for this purpose, in addition to a careful clinical evaluation, including not only cardiac output but also the mixed venous oxygen saturation and the blood lactate concentrations. The concept is to assess the adequacy of the cardiac output in patients with severe sepsis, enabling management strategies aimed at optimizing cardiac output to be tailored to the individual patient.