Control of fetal cardiac output during changes in blood volume

Changes in cardiac output (Qco), heart rate, right atrial pressure, (Pra), and mean systemic pressure (Pms) in response to blood volume changes were measured in chronically prepared fetal sheep. With a 10% decrease in blood volume, fetal cardiac output, measured with the microsphere technique, decreased significantly from 592 +/- 28 to 471 +/- 32 ml . min-1 . kg-1. Heart rate changed little from control animals (163 +/- 5) to those with decreased volume (161 +/- 10 beats/min). Right atrial pressure decreased significantly from 5.4 +/- 0.4 to 4.2 +/- 0.6 mmHg. Mean systemic pressure decreased from 13.8 +/- 0.3 to 10.5 +/- 0.6 mmHg. With a 10% increase in fetal blood volume, cardiac output rose insignificantly to 632 +/- 38 ml . min-1 . kg-1. However, right atrial pressure increased significantly to 8.9 +/- 0.6 mmHg and mean systemic pressure increased significantly to 16.5 +/- 0.8 mmHg with the increased volume. Heart rate again changed little (153 +/- 9 beats/min). The fact that cardiac output rose only a small amount, whereas right atrial pressure rose sharply with an increased blood volume, suggests that the fetal heart is operating near the upper limit of its Starling function curve. As a result, there is very limited cardiac reserve for increases in fetal cardiac output.