last updated 19-03-2024

Cardiac function

Cardiac function

Each time the heart contracts, a certain volume of blood is ejected: the stroke volume (SV). The SV is the difference between the end-diastolic volume (EDV) and the end-systolic volume (ESV) of the left ventricle. The EDV is the filled volume of the ventricle prior to contraction and the ESV is the residual volume of blood remaining in the ventricle after ejection. The difference in these two volumes represents the SV:

SV = EDV – ESV

The cardiac output (CO) serves as an important parameter of cardiac function. CO is the product of the SV and the number of contractions per minute (heart rate, HR):

CO [ml/min] = SV [ml] • HR [min-1]