Comparison of the Fick and Hamilton Methods for the Determination of Cardiac Output in Man¹²¹

The Lewis A. Connor Memorial Lecture

“…2). 39 40,41 Its errors in measuring the cardiac output are probably no greater than those of the Fick method and, in addition, the volume of blood in the heart, lungs, and great vessels (from the point of injection to the point of sampling) can be calculated from the dye concentration curve by multiplying the mean circulation time by the flow ( fig. 1).…”

Hemodynamic Alterations in Acute Myocardial Infarction. I. Cardiac Output, Mean Arterial Pressure, Total Peripheral Resistance, “Central” and Total Blood Volumes, Venous Pressure and Average Circulation Time 12

“…The injection of T-1824 9 in 0.5 per cent solution and collection of samples from the femoral artery were carried out according to method of Werko and associates (4). Following this the arterial pressure was measured again and additional arterial samples were withdrawn at 10, 15, and 20 minutes for determination of total plasma volume.…”

“…After novocainizing the skin and making a small incision through the dermis with a scalpel blade, a 15 gauge Robb type needle 5 cm. in length 4 was inserted into the femoral artery. This permitted excellent flows of 2 to 3 cc.…”

“…It was essential in the cases of acute myocardial infarction to carry out the experimental procedures rapidly at the bedside and without serious disturbance to the patient. For this reason the dye inj ection method of Hamilton and colleagues (5) as modified by Werko and associates (4) was used for determining cardiac output. After novocainizing the skin and making a small incision through the dermis with a scalpel blade, a 15 gauge Robb type needle 5 cm.…”

“…The "team" of investigators was trained so that two men 3 Captain, MC, U.S.A.F. 4 would insert the catheter while another placed the Robb needle in the femoral artery. After some practice these procedures could be carried out in less than 10 minutes.…”