Low cardiac function index predicts ICU mortality in patients with severe sepsis or septic shock

• DOI: 10.1186/cc6631
• Publication Date: 2012-05-15T11:29:48Z
• Authors: S Ritter; A Rudiger; M Maggiorini
• Keywords: 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; Poster Presentation; 3. Good health

Cardiac dysfunction is an important organ manifestation of severe sepsis, and its occurrence increases with disease severity. Similarly, patients suffering from acute heart failure are characterised by a poor cardiac performance and a high mortality. We compared the cardiac function index (CFI), a marker of myocardial contractility and other hemodynamic variables, in patients with acute heart failure and severe sepsis or septic shock and studied their relationship with ICU mortality.