Which formula is used to calculate cardiac output?

Cardiac output is a crucial measurement in heart physiology, representing the amount of blood the heart pumps in a minute. It is calculated by multiplying the heart rate, measured in beats per minute (bpm), by the stroke volume, which is the amount of blood ejected by the heart with each contraction, measured in milliliters per beat (mL per beat).

The formula, therefore, involves taking the heart rate and the stroke volume and multiplying them together. This relationship is foundational in understanding how efficiently the heart is working; a higher heart rate or a higher stroke volume will lead to an increased cardiac output, indicating the volume of blood circulating in the body.

The other choices do not accurately reflect the relationship necessary to compute cardiac output. Subtracting or adding BPM and mL per beat, or dividing one by the other, does not yield a meaningful or valid measure of cardiac output. Thus, the correct method to calculate this essential parameter is indeed by using the multiplication of bpm with mL per beat.