Cardiac Output

The Bainbridge reflex (aka, atrial reflex) occurs when the heart rate increases in response to a rise in atrial pressure.

Chronic heart failure occurs when either the left ventricle, the right ventricle, or both require elevated filling pressures to maintain cardiac output. Heart failure is a syndrome, not a specific disease, and occurs as a final common pathway in multiple disease states.

The cardiorenal syndrome occurs when low cardiac output results in decreased renal perfusion and renal failure. The treatment is aimed at increasing cardiac output frequently by using cardiac inotropes such as dobutamine and milrinone.

Cardiac output is the overall amount of blood flow that the heart pumps forward. The standard unit to express the cardiac mL/min or cc/min.

Cardiogenic shock occurs when the heart is not able to pump enough blood to generate adequate cardiac output to maintain normal blood pressure.

The symptoms of aortic valve regurgitation are those predominately of congestive heart failure. As chronic aortic regurgitation develops slowly over time, the left ventricle can easily compensate slowly as described previously.

Activation of the sympathetic nervous system and the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) occur in patients with systolic heart failure.