STUDIES OF BLOOD VOLUME IN THE TETRALOGY OF FALLOT AND IN OTHER TYPES OF CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE 1

Abstract

Studies of blood volume, as measured by the T 1824 blue dye-hematocrit method, were carried out in 7 cases of tetralogy of Fallot; 4 cases of isolated septal defect; and 1 case each of Eisenmeyer complex, isolated pulmonic stenosis, aortic coarctation, congenital mitral stenosis, and patent ductus arteriosus. Red cell vols. in the tetralogy cases varied from 60-346 ml./kg. Plasma vols. were essentially within normal limits. Red cell volumes paralleled clinical severity and diminished rapidly following bed rest and, in one case, following the Blalock procedure. Of the other congenital heart disease cases studied, that of isolated pulmonic stenosis was the only one in which the relationship of high red cell and relatively standard plasma vol. simulated that found in the tetralogy. This suggests the probable importance of the factor of pulmonic stenosis in predisposing to the hypervolemia of the tetralogy of Fallot. The measurement of blood vol. in tetralogy cases appears to be of clinical usefulness in determining prognosis and in measuring the effect of medical and surgical treatment.