Pulmonary Artery Catheterization

A pulmonary artery catheter, also known as a Swan-Ganz catheter, thermodilution catheter or right heart catheter, is a balloon tipped catheter that is inserted into a pulmonary artery in a procedure known as pulmonary artery catheterization or right heart catheterization. The procedure is a useful measure of the overall function of the heart, particularly in those with complications from heart failure, heart attack, arrhythmias or pulmonary embolism, and it is also useful for those needing intravenous fluid therapy, for instance after heart surgery, in shock, or with severe burns, and it can be used to measure pressures in the heart chambers. The catheter allows direct, simultaneous measurement of pressures in the right atrium, right ventricle, pulmonary artery, and the filling pressure of the left atrium, known as the pulmonary wedge pressure, and it is frequently called a Swan-Ganz catheter in honor of its inventors Jeremy Swan and William Ganz of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.