Evaluation using dogs of a method for estimating cardiac output from a single breath.

We have evaluated the single-breath method of Kim, Rahn, and Fahri (J. Appl. Physiol. 21: 1338, 1966) using anesthetized dogs (avg wt 26 kg). The systematic error was determined by comparing the single-breath estimates of cardiac output with values obtained by the dye-dilution method. In some dogs the effects of moderate exercise were stimulated by joining the circulations of two dogs. From paired estimates, the random error of the single-breath method was +/- 12% (95% tolerance limits; 23 pairs) over a range of outputs 1.1-5.0 l/min. There was no significant difference between values of cardiac output by the single-breath method and by dye dilution, and in four dogs the dye-dilution values were not significantly different from values of pulmonary blood flow controlled by perfusion. These results indicate that under carefully controlled conditions the single-breath method is capable of providing reliable estimates of cardiac output.