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The CO Rebreathing Method in Details The carbon monoxide (CO) re-breathing method is a technique that can be used to quantify blood volume and hemoglobin mass (Hbmass) in humans.

The method is based on the dilution principle where a given quantity of tracer (CO) is administered to the circulation, and where the subsequent concentration of CO in the blood allows for the calculation of Hbmass. From this red blood cell volume, plasma volume, and total blood volume are easily calculated.

The amount of CO administrated during the test approximates to levels reached after smoking one cigarette. While cigarette smoking is certainly not recommended, the health concerns associated to smoking just one cigarette are indeed limited.

The use of radioactive tracers such as 51Cr has been used since the 1950s and has been considered the gold standard. However, the use of CO as a tracer has been known and used for more than 100 years and are in common use. The lower technical requirements and smaller ethical concerns associated with the CO re-breathing method have proven to make this procedure simple and popular to use in scientific and clinical settings.

The CO re-breathing method is associated with a typical measurement error similar to radioactive tracer methods and it is considered as valid and reliable.