Some comments on the usefulness of measuring cardiac output by dye dilution.

In this paper, a few aspects of the dye dilution method for measuring cardiac output are described. Data obtained with this technique show good reproducibility, although any first determination tends to be higher than subsequent ones. The method has been found to be useful in the assessment of cardiac function in, for instance, hypertensive patients. An additional advantage is that it can be used also in exercising subjects. As the dye dilution technique still is considered to be the standard method, other methods, such as thermodilution, should always be validated in comparison with the dye dilution technique.