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Cardiac Output Is the Volume of Blood Pumped Each Minute by OneVentricIe

In a resting dog, it takes about 1 minute for blood to traverse the entire circulation (from the left ventricle back to the left ventricle). Because the pulmonary and systemic circulations are in series, the volume of blood pumped by the right side of the heart each minute must equal the volume of blood pumped by the left side of the heart each minute.

The volume of blood pumped per minute by either the left ventricle or the right ventricle is called cardiac output. Among the mammalian species typically encountered in veterinary medicine, cardiac output at rest is approximately 3 liters per minute per square meter (L/min/nr) of body surface area. A large dog (e.g., German shepherd) typically has a body surface area a little less than 1 m2 and a cardiac output at rest of about 2.5 L∕min.

In an animal at rest, blood entering the aorta is divided so that approximately 20% of it flows through the splanchnic circulation and 20% to the kidneys. Another 20% goes to the skeletal muscles. The brain receives about 15% of the cardiac output, and the coronary arteries carry about 3% of the cardiac output. The remainder goes to skin and bone.

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Source: Cunningham J.G., Klein B.G.. Textbook of Veterinary Physiology. Elsevier Health Sciences,2007. — 720 ð.. 2007

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