Patients’characteristics and microvascular reactivityFifty-nine patients were included; 39% were female (n =23) with a median age of 66 [55–81] years. The main initialreason for ICU admission was respiratory disorder,and 40% of patients suffered from bacterial infection.SAPS II was 38 [24–48] and median hemoglobinemiabefore transfusion was 6.9 [6.6–7.3] g/dL. Clinicalcharacteristics of included patients are summarized inTable 1.