Central venous to mixed venous blood oxygen and lactate gradients are associated with outcome in critically ill patients

Objective Blood O2 saturation and lactate concentration gradients from superior vena cava (SVC) to pulmonary artery (PA) occur in critically ill patients. These gradients (ΔSO2 and Δ[Lac]) may be positive or negative. We tested the hypothesis that positive ΔSO2 and Δ[Lac] are associated with improved survival in critically ill patients.