Lack of association between carotid artery volume blood flow and cardiac output.

Objective. The correlation of cardiac output and cerebral perfusion is unclear. We tested this potential association by correlating cardiac output data obtained by echocardiography and cerebral blood flow data as determined by color M-mode measurements of carotid artery blood flow. Methods. We studied 43 patients with a broad spectrum of cardiac performance by means of transthoracic echocardiography. In these patients, different cardiac indices such as stroke volume, ejection fraction, and heart minute volume were determined. The data were correlated with volumetric flow measurements (color M-mode duplex system) of the common carotid arteries bilaterally. Results. Heart minute volume ranged…