Re: how many cc's of blood are there in the human body?

Date: Thu Oct 21 11:46:36 1999
Posted By: Lynn Bry, MD/PhD, Department of Pathology, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Area of science: General Biology
ID: 937800568.Gb

Message:

Hi Margo -

I'm sorry this is late. The calculation we tend to use is

	Blood volume (in cc) = 70cc/kG X weight   (in kilograms)

For an "average" 70 kilogram man - his circulating blood supply is approximately 5 liters.

The "equation" used to get a more accurate estimate is:

	Men: Blood volume = 46.7 X weight + 1742
	Women: Blood volume = 53.7 X weight + 984

There are also calculations that are based on a person's surface area as opposed to their weight. To make it a bit more complicated, different equations are used to calculate blood volumes in neonates and young children.

Hope this helps..

-L. Bry, MD/PhD
Intermittent Resident of the Blood Bank..

Reference: Clinical Practice of Transfusion Medicine, Petz. et al, 1999; pp. 382-384.

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