How to Determine Stroke Volume
Stroke volume is a description of the amount of blood the heart pumps. Specifically, it describes the blood volume that a single ventricle discharges with each heartbeat. Stroke volume is often used in the medical field to determine how well a patient's heart is functioning. The information required for determining stroke volume is obtained by performing a medical procedure called a ventricular angiogram, which displays an image of the heart through the use of X-rays.
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Instructions
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Determine the end-diastolic volume of the heartbeat. End-diastolic volume (EDV) is the amount of blood in one of the heart's ventricles just prior to the actual heartbeat. This information is obtained by undergoing a ventricular angiogram, which should be administered only by a medical professional.
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Determine the end-systolic volume of the heartbeat. End-systolic volume (ESV) is the amount of blood in one of the heart's ventricles immediately following the heartbeat. Like EDV, this information also requires undergoing an angiogram.
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Subtract the ESV from the EDV. The difference is the stroke volume of the patient. For example, if you had an EDV of 100 ml and an ESV of 10 ml, you would subtract 10 ml from 100 ml to get a stroke volume of 90 ml.
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Tips & Warnings
The general formula for determining stroke volume is: Stroke Volume = (EDV) - (ESV).
References
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