Cardiac output measurement

Abstract

Cardiac output is the amount of blood pumped by the right or left ventricular per unit of time. It is expressed in liters per minute (L/min) and normalized by division by body surface area in square meters (m2). The resulting quantity is called the cardiac index. Cardiac output is sometimes normalized to body weight, being expressed as mL/min per kilogram. A typical resting value for a wide variety of mammals is 70 mL/min per kg.