Table 1 Baseline and treatment characteristics

N

47

34

81

Demographics and clinical factors

 Age (years)

60 (17)

57 (18)

59 (17)

 Female—n (%)

16 (34%)

22 (65%)

38 (47%)

 Body Mass Index (kg/m²)

30.2 (8.4)

28.9 (7.5)

29.6 (8.0)

 Ideal body weight (kg)

63.6 (10.6)

59.1 (10.2)

61.7 (10.6)

 Exposure to ACE inhibitors or ARBs—n (%)

5 (11%)

6 (18%)

11 (14%)

 Cause of vasodilatory shock—n (%)

  Sepsis

41 (87%)

28 (82%)

69 (85)

  Other—potentially sepsis

4 (9%)

4 (12%)

8 (10%)

  Other—not sepsis

2 (4%)

2 (6%)

4 (5%)

 Baseline APACHE II Score

30.9 (7.9)

29.1 (8.2)

30.1 (8.0)

 Baseline albumin (g/dl)

2.4 (0.6)

2.3 (0.8)

2.3 (0.7)

Baseline cardiovascular status

 Mean arterial pressure (mmHg)

65 (7)

66 (5)

65 (6)

 Average NED in past 6 h (µg/kg/min)

0.55 (0.32)

0.54 (0.35)

0.54 (0.33)

 Vasopressin use in past 6 h—n (%)

40 (85%)

24 (71%)

64 (79%)

 Central venous pressure (mmHg)

13.6 (4.5)

15.1 (5.3)

14.3 (4.9)

 Cardiac Index (L/min/m²)

3.4 (0.9)

3.4 (0.7)

3.4 (0.8)

 ScvO₂ (%)

78 (7)

77 (8)

78 (8)

Baseline respiratory status

 PaO₂:FiO₂ ratio (mmHg)

148 (63)

155 (69)

151 (65)

  < 100—n (%)

15 (31.9%)

9 (27%)

20 (25%)

  100–199—n (%)

21 (44.7%)

16 (47%)

37 (46%)

  200–299—n (%)

11 (23.4%)

9 (27%)

24 (30%)

 PaO₂ (mmHg)

84 (25)

84 (27)

84 (26)

 FiO₂

0.64 (0.21)

0.62 (0.25)

0.63 (0.23)

 Oxygenation Index (cmH₂O/mmHg)

13.8 (12.8)

13.3 (11.2)

13.6 (12.1)

 mAwP (cmH₂O)

16.5 (5.4)

17.4 (6.9)

16.9 (6.0)

 PEEP (cmH₂O)

10.4 (4.1)

10.1 (3.3)

10.3 (3.7)

 Tidal volume ≤ 8 mL/kg—n (%)

32 (68%)

21 (62%)

53 (65%)

 PaCO₂ (mmHg)

42 (16)

44 (13)

43 (15)

 pH

7.286 (0.118)

7.263 (0.114)

7.276 (0.116)

 Minute ventilation (L/min)

10.8 (4.6)

10.4 (3.3)

10.6 (4.1)

 Ventilatory ratio (L mmHg/min kg)

1.9 (1.0)

2.0 (0.8)

1.9 (0.9)

  Ventilatory ratio ≥ 2.0—n (%)

15 (32%)

11 (32%)

26 (32%)

Additional therapies

 Glucocorticoids—n (%)

33 (70%)

25 (74%)

58 (72%)

 Neuromuscular blockade—n (%)

25 (53%)

19 (56%)

44 (54%)

 Pulmonary vasodilators—n (%)

6 (13%)

4 (12%)

10 (12%)

 Nitric oxide scavengers—n (%)

1 (2%)

1 (3%)

2 (3%)

 Venovenous-ECMO

2 (4%)

2 (6%)

4 (5%)

Treatment characteristics

 Study drug exposure duration (hrs)—median [IQR]

48 [30, 49]

47 [38, 49]

48 [36, 49]

 Mean study drug dose (ng/kg/min)

39 (13)

31 (25)

35 (19)