In patients undergoing thoracic surgery central blood volume is subject to large variations and extravascular lung water may change critically due to fluid shifts. Therefore, an accurate monitoring of these parameters, in particular under perioperative conditions, seems to be desirable. This study describes an improved method for the measurement of intrathoracic volumes. Experiments were carried our in 9 mongrel dogs under piritramide-N2O anesthesia. In order to produce low cardiac output in combination with uneven distribution of perfusion, measurements were performed under base line conditions and after postural changes. Indicators (cold and indocyanine green dye) were injected into the v. cava and indicator kinetics were recorded from the pulmonary artery and aorta using thermistor-fiberoptic catheters. The transport functions of cold and dye were computed from the corresponding pairs of dilution curves. From the transport functions, the mean transit times of the intravascular (dye) and diffusible (cold) indicator were determined. Central blood volume and extravascular lung thermal volume were calculated from the mean transit times and a thermodilution cardiac output. RESULTS Under base line conditions, central blood volume was 15.3 +/- 2.5 ml/kg body weight. In orthostasis, a significant and reversible reduction to 11.6 +/- 2.4 ml/kg body weight was found. Cardiac output fell significantly from 3.3 +/- 0.5 to 2.4 +/- 1.1. l/min. In contrast, the slight decrease of extravascular lung thermal volume was not statistically significant. It is concluded that the method presented is sensitive enough to detect even small changes of central blood volume.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)