Blood Volume in Congestive Heart Failure1

Abstract

Blood volume determinations by the p32 tagged red blood cell method were made on 102 patients in congestive heart failure and 107 control patients. Male control patients had a mean total blood volume of 69.8 cc/kg body weight; females 60-6 cc/kg. Male patients in congestive heart failure had a mean total vol. of 90.7 cc/kg; females 88.2 cc/kg. With cardiac compensation the mean value fell to 80.4 cc/kg for males and 70.5 cc/kg for females. Repeat determinations in controls showed no significant change. In a group of 16 patients followed from compensation to heart failure there was a significant mean increase in total blood volume. The general conclusion was that blood volume is greater than normal in heart failure; it decreases with compensation and increases again with return of failure. There were individual patients in whom blood volume during congestive failure was normal and did not decrease with compensation or increase with reappearance of failure.