[Passive leg raising predicts volume responsiveness in patients with severe sepsis and septic shock].

Objective: To evaluate the role of passive leg raising (PLR) test in predicting volume responsiveness in severe sepsis and septic shock patients.

Methods: Thirty severe sepsis and septic shock patients in intensive care unit (ICU) of Peking University Shenzhen Hospital were prospectively observed from February 2009 to January 2010. The hemodynamics including stroke volume (SV), cardiac output (CO) and systemic vascular resistance (SVR) were measured non invasively by ultrasonic cardiac output monitor (USCOM) device in the supine position, during PLR and after volume expansion (VE), and invasive arterial blood pressure and central venous pressure (CVP) were monitored consecutively.