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Multiple Choice

What are the units of CaO2?

CaO2 represents the total amount of oxygen carried by a fixed volume of blood, typically per deciliter. It combines two parts: the oxygen bound to hemoglobin and the oxygen dissolved in plasma. The bound portion depends on how much hemoglobin is present (about 1.34 mL O2 per gram of Hb times the Hb concentration in g/dL), while a smaller portion is dissolved in plasma and is proportional to PaO2 (about 0.003 mL O2 per dL of blood for each mmHg of PaO2). Adding these gives CaO2 in milliliters of O2 per deciliter of blood. The units mL O2 per dL blood are the standard way to express oxygen content. Using per mL blood would be an unusual, finer scale, per liter would just be a different volume basis, and per minute would describe delivery rate, not content.

CaO2 represents the total amount of oxygen carried by a fixed volume of blood, typically per deciliter. It combines two parts: the oxygen bound to hemoglobin and the oxygen dissolved in plasma. The bound portion depends on how much hemoglobin is present (about 1.34 mL O2 per gram of Hb times the Hb concentration in g/dL), while a smaller portion is dissolved in plasma and is proportional to PaO2 (about 0.003 mL O2 per dL of blood for each mmHg of PaO2). Adding these gives CaO2 in milliliters of O2 per deciliter of blood. The units mL O2 per dL blood are the standard way to express oxygen content. Using per mL blood would be an unusual, finer scale, per liter would just be a different volume basis, and per minute would describe delivery rate, not content.