Ultrasound Guidance for Thoracentesis 
 

 

Q: The Model for End-Stage Liver Disease, or MELD, is a scoring system for assessing the severity of chronic liver disease. Formula for MELD score is

MELD = 3.78[Ln serum bilirubin (mg/dL)] + 11.2[Ln INR] + 9.57[Ln serum creatinine (mg/dL)] + 6.43

If patient is already on Dialysis - what value of Creatinine is automatically substituted?

Answer: 4

In interpreting the MELD Score in hospitalized patients, the 3 month mortality is:

• 40 or more — 71.3% mortality
• 30–39 — 52.6% mortality
• 20–29 — 19.6% mortality
• 10–19 — 6.0% mortality
• <9 — 1.9% mortality

Q:  Cardiac output is the volume of blood being pumped by the heart, (left or right ventricle), in the time interval of ......

? (choose one)

A) One minute

B) One second

C) each beat

D) one respiratory cycle

Answer:  A) Per minute

Cardiac output is the volume of blood pumped by the heart per minute (mL blood/min). 

Cardiac output is a function of heart rate and stroke volume. The heart rate is simply the number of heart beats per minute. The stroke volume is the volume of blood, in milliliters (mL), pumped out of the heart with each beat. 

Cardiac Output in mL/min = heart rate (beats/min) X stroke volume (mL/beat)

An average resting cardiac output would be 5.6 L/min for a human male and 4.9 L/min for a female.