Chest
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In a study of 12 critically ill patients, values for mixed venous oxygen saturation (SVO2) were measured from samples of pulmonary arterial blood drawn at five rates of withdrawal (1, 3, 10, 20, and 30 ml/min). Samples were drawn from properly placed pulmonary arterial catheters with the balloon deflated. ⋯ Evaluations by paired t-test comparing all rates of withdrawal with the slowest rate (1 ml/min) showed no significant differences. The rate of withdrawal of the sample is not associated with significant errors in SVO2 when samples are drawn from a properly positioned pulmonary arterial catheter.