Studies of Cardiopulmonary Blood Volume

The measurement of ventricular end-diastolic volume from washout of an indicator requiring blood sampling was studied in a heart model and in dogs and applied to the left ventricle in 34 human subjects. The model, under the ideal conditions of constant ejection fraction, uniform cycle length, and complete or nearly complete mixing, demonstrated that dye dilution accurately measures chamber volumes if the distorting effects of catheter sampling are obviated by clearance of the sampling system at least once per two cardiac cycles. The studies in dogs and in human beings demonstrated that the required sampling conditions are achievable. In 11 normal human subjects, left ventricular end-diastolic volume ranged from 72 to 99 with a mean of 82 ± 12 ml/m, 2 end-systolic volume, from 22 to 60 with a mean of 37 ± 11 ml/m, 2 and ejection fraction, from 0.39 to 0.71 with a mean of 0.55 ± 0.08. These measurements are in substantial agreement with results by radiocardiography and thermal dilution and are systematically, but only slightly, higher than results by quantitative angiocardiography. In six considerably older patients with chronic pulmonary disease, cardiac output was normal for the age group but ejection from a ventricle of normal size was reduced. In 12 subjects with pure mitral stenosis and in five with atrial septal defect, end-diastolic volume and ejection fraction were significantly reduced. End-diastolic volume correlated with stroke volume in all groups and in the series as a whole, but a correlation between end-diastolic volume and cardiac output was demonstrated only in the patients with mitral stenosis or atrial septal defect. This suggests that chronic restriction to ventricular filling results in decreased end-diastolic volume. The absence of a significant correlation between end-diastolic volume and end-diastolic pressure indicates that variation in ventricular compliance precludes reliance on end-diastolic pressure as a valid index of end-diastolic fiber length.