abbie1948  +  90383 Fri, 15 Apr 05 07:40 PM "Central blood" is that which is taken from the vena cava, the vein which empties into the heart, as opposed to "peripheral blood" which is taken from a vien near the skin surface of a limb (usually the antecubital foss - inside the elbow) The usual method of obtaining "central blood" is via a central venous catheter - picture here: http://uk.search.yahoo.com/search/images?p=central+venous+line&ei=UTF-8&fr=slv1-&fl=0&x=wrt (Of course, if she's dead, they can just go in there and take some!) Central blood gives a very accurate picture of the constituents of the blood going into the heart. abbie1948 Joined on Thu, Mar 24 2005 England Senior Member 2,657 Hope that helps. Abbie