heart and blood vessel disorders
Pulmonary Artery Catheterization
Introduction
Pulmonary artery catheterization can be used to measure pressure in the right heart chambers and to estimate pressure in the left heart chambers, the amount of blood the heart pumps per minute (cardiac output), resistance to blood flow in the arteries that carry blood from the heart (peripheral resistance), and the volume of blood. The pulmonary artery is the artery that carries blood from the right side of the heart into the lungs. In pulmonary artery catheterization, a catheter is passed through the right atrium and ventricle and into the pulmonary artery. This procedure is occasionally a useful measure of overall heart function in people who are critically ill, particularly when fluids are being given intravenously. Such people include those who have severe heart or lung disorders (such as Heart Failure (HF) , Pulmonary artery catheterization is also done to measure pressure in the right heart chambers and to estimate pressure in the left heart chambers, the amount of blood the heart pumps per minute (cardiac output), resistance to blood flow in the arteries that carry blood from the heart (peripheral resistance), and the volume of blood. This procedure can provide useful information about why a person's blood pressure may be low (such as in Cardiac Tamponade ) or to help determine why the person is having difficulty breathing (such as in heart failure or The procedure may cause complications, but they are usually rare. They include an air pocket between the layers of membranes covering the lungs ( Pneumothorax ), abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias), infection, damage or clotting in the pulmonary artery, and injury to an artery or vein. 