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back | nextCardiac Index

Cardiac index is the volume of blood pumped by the heart (liters per minute) divided by the body surface area (square meters). This allows direct comparison of the cardiac index of large and small patients.

Cardiac index is determined by two factors:

1. Heart rate: The number of heart beats per minute.
2. Stroke volume index: the volume of blood pumped by the heart with each beat (scaled for body size).