Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41160043›Full record

ArticleActa anaesthesiologica Scandinavica2026

Optimal Cutoffs for the Ratio of Arterial Oxygen Partial Pressure to Inspired Oxygen Fraction in Categorizing Respiratory Impairment Severity in Organ Failure Scores.

Anssi Pölkki, Matti Reinikainen, Bram Rochwerg, Christian Jung, Cornelius Sendagire, Dipayan Chaudhuri, Greg S Martin, Tuomas Selander, Andrew Rhodes, Rui Moreno and 4 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Acta anaesthesiologica Scandinavica, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

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2citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

Anssi PölkkiDepartment of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, Kuopio University Hospital and Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland.ORCID 0009-0006-8551-4394
Matti ReinikainenDepartment of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care, Kuopio University Hospital and Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland.
Bram RochwergDepartment of Medicine and Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Christian JungDepartment of Cardiology, Pulmonology and Vascular Medicine and Cardiovascular Research Institute Dusseldorf (CARID), Heinrich-Heine-University Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany.
Cornelius SendagireUganda Heart Institute, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.ORCID 0000-0002-9039-7325
Dipayan ChaudhuriDivision of Critical Care, McMaster University and Department of Critical Care, St. Joseph's Healthcare, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Greg S MartinDivision of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, and Grady Memorial Hospital, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Tuomas SelanderScience Service Center, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland.
Andrew RhodesAdult Critical Care, St. George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
Rui MorenoFaculdade de Ciências Médicas de Lisboa, Nova Medical School, Lisboa, Portugal, Faculdade de Ciências da Saúde, ULS de José, Lisboa, Portugal, Covilhã, Portugal.
Mervyn SingerBloomsbury Institute of Intensive Care Medicine, Division of Medicine, University College London, London, UK.
John G LaffeyAnaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Galway, Galway, Ireland.
Pirkka T PekkarinenDivision of Intensive Care, Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.
SOFA‐2 study group

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe ratio of arterial oxygen partial pressure to fraction of inspired oxygen (PaO

methodsWe used the database of the intensive care unit of Kuopio University Hospital, Finland, for cutoff derivation and the eICU database, a multicenter U.S. intensive care registry, for external validation. We identified cutoffs most discriminative for hospital mortality using the log-rank statistic test with the Contal and O'Quigley method. In external validation, these cutoffs were compared with those in the current respiratory SOFA score.

resultsOptimal cutoffs were identified as follows: P/F ratio > 40 kPa (normal), 30-40 kPa (mild impairment), 20-30 kPa (moderate impairment), 10-20 kPa (severe impairment), and ≤ 10 kPa (critical impairment). These cutoffs resulted in clear separation of the severity categories (chi-square for log-rank statistic 356.9). They outperformed the current respiratory SOFA score cutoffs in the validation cohort (AUROC 0.615, 95% CI 0.607-0.622 vs. AUROC 0.610, 95% CI 0.603-0.618, p < 0.001). Advanced respiratory support was associated with higher mortality, but its inclusion as a prerequisite improved discrimination only in the moderately impaired respiratory function category, not in the severely or critically impaired categories.

conclusionP/F ratio cutoffs using 10 kPa (75 mmHg) intervals were identified to be optimal for distinguishing stages of respiratory failure severity. The impact of respiratory support on P/F ratio-mortality associations suggests the need to calibrate any P/F ratio-based score by support level, but optimal calibration methods require further study. EDITORIAL COMMENT: In this study, the cut-off values for the partial pressure of arterial oxygen to the fraction of inspired oxygen (P/F ratio) were investigated in a large Finnish intensive care database and validated externally with the US intensive care registry. The aim was to support a revision of the cut-off values for the P/F ratio in the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score. The results showed that incremental changes in the P/F ratio of 10 kPa are better than 13 kPa and emphasize the need for critical assessment of the current SOFA score.

Indexed as

Organ Dysfunction ScoresOxygenRespiratory InsufficiencyAgedFemaleFinlandHospital MortalityHumansMaleMiddle AgedPartial PressureOxygen

Identifiers

PMID41160043
PMCPMC12571143

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.