Disturbances in peripheral O extraction can be produced in dogs treated with 2 endotoxin and thereby provide an opportunity to test theories for the origin of pathological O supply dependency or to try different treatment modalities. The 2 most serious deficiency in the current animal models is the inability to mimic the increased O demand that is observed in patients at 02 delivery rates in excess of 2 normal. A particular feature of this increased O demand is that it apparently does 2 not stimulate increased 02 extraction, although the limitation in O extraction has 2 not been explored in...

A comprehensive survey of recent advances is given in this Update. The wide spectrum of experimental and clinical investigations include the pathophysiologic, diagnostic and therapeutic aspects.