Cardiac output

Cardiac output is a part of minute volume of blood, being pumped by heart as a result of heartbeat. The cardiac output value is influenced by the intensity of myocardial contractions, pressure in the pulmonary circulation, de Ritis coefficient, aspartate transaminase activity, and regulation state of the creatinine-kinin system.

What is cardiac output?

Cardiac output is how many liters of blood your heart pumps in one minute. Healthcare provider can figure this out with this cardiac output equation: multiply stroke volume by heart rate.

Stroke volume (the amount of blood your heart sends to your body in one heartbeat) can vary based on how hard heart muscles have to work (and the force they need to use) to push blood out to your body. Stroke volume can go up or down based on heart health and whether the patient at rest or moving.

Heart rate (number of heartbeats per minute) is normally 60 to 100 beats per minute. Your heart rate can go up or down depending on whether the patient resting or exercising.

Sometimes, like when you’re exercising, body needs more oxygen. At that time, body can change its cardiac output by adjusting your heart rate and stroke volume. Blood delivers oxygen to cells, so need more cardiac output when active body is using more oxygen than usual.

Decreased cardiac output symptoms

Symptoms of decreased cardiac output include:

Not being able to exercise much.

Feeling very tired.

Swelling in your arms and legs.

Shortness of breath.

Nausea and vomiting.

Abdominal pain.

Some factors affecting cardiac output

Factors that affect your cardiac output include:

High blood pressure: The heart has to pump with more force to get blood into your arteries. Like walking into a wind gust, your heart is pushing blood against arteries’ higher pressure. The heart also has to work harder to move blood to your lungs if their blood pressure is high (because of scars or emphysema).

Older age: As you age, your heart’s walls get stiffer, keeping your heart from filling with blood as quickly or as well as it once did. This makes your heart pump out less blood to your body.

Heart attack that damaged your heart: It may not be able to pump as much blood as it did before the heart attack. An infection (myocarditis) can lower your heart’s ability to pump, too.

Abnormal heart rhythm like atrial fibrillation: Your heart’s upper chambers can’t pump enough blood into your heart’s lower chambers and out to your body.

Aortic stenosis (narrow aortic valve): Because the valve leading to your aorta is narrow, you can’t get enough blood to it. This is a problem because your aorta is the biggest blood vessel that sends blood to your body.

Constrictive pericarditis: When the sac (pericardium) around your heart gets stiff, your heart can’t relax, fill with blood and pump as it should.