Question

14) Calculate changes in cardiac output and ponder over their physiological consequences..

Answer 1

Cardiac output is the amount of blood pumped from heart for systemic circulation in one cardiac cycle.
Normal cardiac output is around 5 litres.
Cardiac output can be calculated by multiplying stroke volume and heart rate.
CO = SV X HR

Stroke volume is the amount of volume of blood ejected by left ventricle during each cardiac contraction.
Heart rate is the number of contractions of heart each minute.
Cardiac output depends on stroke volume and heart rate. Increased cardiac output is also a result of increased blood pressure, increased oxygen demand.
Decrease in cardiac output results in decreased supply of blood to different parts of the body. This results in decreased perfusion of organs which causes ischaemia and tissue death.
Increased cardiac output results in blood volume expansion. This may cause fluid overload and congestion.