Figure 3. Cumulative SOFA_RANK Outcomes by Treatment Group.

The primary end point was a ranked outcome of nonrespiratory organ failure quantified by the nonrespiratory components of the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score. For each patient, the daily SOFA score minus the baseline SOFA score was summed over the first 14 study days. The resulting score was used to rank participants from fastest organ failure improvement (lowest scores) to worsening organ failure or death (highest scores). The figure shows that patients randomized to a high-normal Pao₂ target had nonsignificantly lower (better) scores. The median SOFA_RANK score was −35 points (interquartile range [IQR], −63 to 0) in the low-normal group vs −40 points (IQR, −76 to −4.5) in the high-normal group (median difference, 10 points [95% CI, 0 to 21]; P = .06).