Another of the critical care articles published early online at www.nejm.org last week was this trial of High versus Low Blood-Pressure Target in Patients with Septic Shock. In this multicenter, open-label trial, the authors enrolled 776 patients in France and randomized them to a target MAP (mean arterial pressure) of 65-70 mm Hg (low target) versus 80-85 (high target). The hypothesis is that a higher pressure, achieved through vasopressor administration, will improve 28-day mortality. If you don't already know the result, guess if the data from this trial support or confirm the hypothesis (the trial had 80% power to show a 10% absolute reduction in mortality).
