conclusions our case highlights the fact that the tip of the pulmonary artery catheter can easily advance into a peripheral branch of the pulmonary artery and cause pulmonary venous blood to be sampled instead of pulmonary arterial blood. a variety of monitoring techniques are needed to confirm accurate catheter placement. background pressure and waveform at the catheter tip are continuously mo...

Pulmonary artery catheter is frequently used to monitor patients during liver transplantation. Recently developed less invasive methods for estimating cardiac output and pulmonary capillary wedge pressure together with the failure of randomized studies to demonstrate reduced mortality in pulmonary artery catheter-monitored patients, has restricted its applicability. Pulmonary artery rupture by ...

BACKGROUND Pressure and waveform at the catheter tip are continuously monitored during catheterization of pulmonary artery to ensure accurate catheter placement. We present a case in which pulmonary venous blood was unexpectedly collected from the pulmonary artery catheter despite pulmonary artery pressure and waveform detection at the catheter tip, and describe the measures taken to correct th...

Current Opinion in Critical Care 2009, 15:249–253 Purpose of review The pulmonary artery catheter is one of the most scrutinized monitors used in intensive care today. Pulmonary artery catheter use is declining due to limited demonstrated beneficial outcomes and the advancement of less invasive monitoring. This study discusses the current use of the pulmonary artery catheter and problems associ...

Recent years have seen the place of the pulmonary artery catheter in intensive care increasingly challenged, with one recent study reporting no difference in outcome in patients treated with or without a pulmonary artery catheter. However, this study has several methodological flaws and, although pulmonary artery catheterization should not be performed routinely on all patients, when used corre...

Keywords: chest radiograph; haemodialysis catheter; jugular vein and a triple lumen catheter in the right. Four days post-operatively, she developed a fever, pericardial tamponade; central venous cannulation; complications hypotension, a worsening systemic acidosis and olig-uria. Pulmonary artery catheter readings revealed a pulmonary artery wedge pressure of 23 mmHg, pulmonary artery pressure ...

OBJECTIVE To compare the relationship between the time of pulmonary artery catheter replacement (4 days or 7 days after insertion) and the occurrence of catheter-associated infections. DESIGN One-year prospective, randomized, controlled clinical trial. SETTING Surgical and medical intensive care units at a 2,700-bed medical center. PATIENTS A total of 258 patients in critical condition wh...

We present a case of pulmonary artery perforation in a patient who developed a pneumothorax after cardiac surgery. In the process of inserting a chest tube the patient became tachypnoeic, and developed haemoptysis. The trachea was intubated, and right bronchial intubation was performed with persistent bleeding. The pulmonary artery catheter was gently withdrawn and the balloon inflated, with ce...

OBJECTIVE To clarify the role of the pulmonary artery catheter in the intensive care unit. DATA SOURCES Recent and relevant literature from MEDLINE and authors' personal databases. STUDY SELECTION Studies on pulmonary artery catheter use and use of other monitoring devices in critically ill patients. DATA EXTRACTION Based largely on clinical experience and assessment of the relevant publi...

BACKGROUND In some patients passage of a pulmonary artery flotation catheter (PAFC) into the pulmonary artery may be difficult and time consuming and the prolonged manipulation can cause ventricular arrhythmias. A simple clinical method used during general anaesthesia is presented to allow rapid passage of a PAFC into the pulmonary artery. METHODS The operating table is positioned head up and...