Cerebral haemodynamics and carbon dioxide reactivity during sepsis syndrome

Table 4 Variables of cerebral circulation and oxygenation before and after reduction of the arterial carbon dioxide partial pressure (P_aCO₂) by 0.93 kPa

	Baseline	Decreased P_aCO₂
Cerebral blood flow (ml/100 g/min)	64 ± 29	39 ± 15**
Blood flow velocity in the middle cerebral artery (cm/s)	72 ± 25	59 ± 22**
Cerebral critical closing pressure (mmHg)	25 ± 11	39 ± 15**
Physiological effective cerebral perfusion pressure^a (mmHg)	65 ± 16	48 ± 17**
Cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen (ml/100 g/min)	1.9 ± 0.8	1.9 ± 0.9
Venous oxygen saturation in the jugular bulb (%)	75 ± 8	67 ± 14*

^aMean arterial pressure minus cerebral critical closing pressure. *P < 0.01 and **P < 0.001, matched pairs t test, n = 10.

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