definition of cardiac output
Cardiac output (known as âQâ) is a measure of the amount of blood that is pumped out of the heart in one minute. âQâ specifically refers to the amount of blood pumped out of the left ventricle as this is the ventricle that supplies blood to the muscles and organs of the body. Cardiac output is made up of two components, heart rate (HR) and stroke volume (SV). Heart rate (HR) refers to the number of times the heart beats every minute (bpm).