Cardiac Output is defined as?

Cardiac Output is defined as?

• A. Heart rate x stroke volume
• B. Systolic pressure x heart rate
• C. Mean arterial pressure x stroke volume
• D. Pulse pressure x heart rate

Answer: (A)

Cardiac output is the volume of blood the heart pumps each minute, determined by how often the heart beats and how much blood is ejected with each beat. It is calculated as heart rate times stroke volume. So increasing either the heart rate or the stroke volume raises the total blood pumped per minute. For example, 70 beats per minute with a stroke volume of about 70 mL per beat yields roughly 4.9 L per minute. The other options involve pressures (systolic, mean arterial, pulse pressure) rather than the volume per beat, so they do not define cardiac output.