Weil Institute of Critical Care Medicine, Rancho Mirage, CA 92270, USA. weilm@weiliccm.org
There is persuasive evidence, including the present report by Dubin and colleagues, of a dissociation between increases in arterial pressure produced by vasopressor agents and improvement in microvascular perfusion and delivery of vital substrates. Especially in settings of septic shock, the current routine administration of adrenergic vasopressor therapy therefore may fail to reverse the primary defect.