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Minerva Anestesiologica 2014 February;80(2):225-35

Copyright © 2014 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

A review of therapeutic attempts to recruit the microcirculation in patients with sepsis

Shapiro N. I. ^{1, 2}, Angus D. C. ³ ✉

¹ Department of Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA; ² Center for Vascular Biology Research, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA; ³ Clinical Research, Investigation and Systems Modeling of Acute Illness (CRISMA) Center, Department of Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Microcirculatory dysfunction is a pivotal element of the pathogenesis of severe sepsis and septic shock. Technological development, including sidestream darkfield videomicroscopy, now allows for bedside assessment of the microcirculation. A number of clinical studies have established the importance of the microcirculation in sepsis. The objective of this review is to discuss human trials that have assessed interventions aimed at improving microcirculatory flow in patients with sepsis.