Cardiac output

Cardiac output is the volume of blood pumped by one ventricle per minute. It equals heart rate multiplied by stroke volume.

Heart rate: The number of heartbeats per minute. It is one factor multiplied by stroke volume to determine cardiac output.
Cardiac cycle: The sequence of filling and contraction events in one heartbeat. Cardiac output aggregates ventricular ejection across repeated cardiac cycles.
Fick principle: A method for calculating blood flow from a substance's uptake or release and its arterial-to-venous concentration difference. Oxygen consumption and blood oxygen differences can be used to calculate cardiac output.
Oxygen delivery: The amount of oxygen transported in arterial blood to body tissues per unit time. It depends on cardiac output as well as the oxygen content of blood.
Stroke volume: The volume of blood ejected by one ventricle in a single beat. It is the other factor multiplied by heart rate to determine cardiac output.
Ventricular systole: The phase when the ventricles contract and eject blood. Each ventricular systole contributes a stroke volume to cardiac output.
Thermodilution: A method that estimates blood flow from the temperature change caused by injecting a cool indicator into the circulation. It is a common invasive method for measuring cardiac output.
Shock: A life-threatening state in which circulation fails to deliver enough oxygen to tissues. Low cardiac output can cause shock, though some forms arise mainly from abnormal vascular distribution.
Preload: The stretch of a cardiac muscle chamber at the end of filling, before contraction. Greater ventricular filling can raise stroke volume and thereby increase cardiac output.
Venous return: The volume of blood returning to the heart per minute. It sets ventricular filling and, in steady state, matches cardiac output.

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