Components of the "Central" Blood Volume in the Dog

Abstract

The indicator-dilution method was used in the dog in an attempt to define the proportion of the "central" blood volume contained in the lung vessels. When injections were made into the pulmonary artery with sampling from the femoral artery only half or even less of the calculated blood volume could be accounted for by the lungs. When a venous injection site was used, the proportion in the lungs was reduced to a third or less. Thus when peripheral sites are used for the inscription of indicator-dilution curves few deductions can be made about either the actual volume or even relative changes in the volume of blood in the lungs.