THE CARDIAC OUTPUT IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC ANEMIA AS MEASURED BY THE TECHNIQUE OF RIGHT ATRIAL CATHETERIZATION 1

Abstract

Many patients with circulatory failure either from hemorrhage or heart failure have anemia. In these patients, the cardiac output may be within normal limits and yet the circulation may be in- adequate. The question immediately arises as to what is the effect of anemia on the requirements of the tissues of the body for blood. Before it can be determined whether a given patient with ane- mia has an adequate circulation, it is necessary to know how anemia per se affects the cardiovascular system and what level of cardiac output should be expected for a given hemoglobin con- centration. Studies on the circulation were, therefore, carried out on patients with chronic anemia in whom the picture was not complicated by shock and by the marked decrease in total blood volume which are so often present in the acute anemia produced by hemorrhage.