What information does a Swan-Ganz catheter provide?

What information does a Swan-Ganz catheter provide?

• A. Left atrial pressure.
• B. Right atrial pressure, right ventricular pressure, pulmonary arterial pressure, pulmonary capillary wedge pressure, and cardiac output by thermodilution.
• C. Aortic pressure and ejection fraction.
• D. Only coronary blood flow.

Answer: (B)

A Swan-Ganz catheter provides a comprehensive hemodynamic profile by sampling pressures along the right heart and pulmonary circulation and by measuring cardiac output. It is advanced from a central vein into the right atrium, then the right ventricle, and into a branch of the pulmonary artery. The balloon at the tip can be inflated to occlude a small pulmonary artery branch, yielding the pulmonary capillary wedge pressure, which reflects left atrial pressure. From this setup you obtain right atrial pressure, right ventricular pressure, pulmonary arterial pressures, the wedge pressure, and cardiac output by thermodilution. This combination of measurements is what the Swan-Ganz catheter uniquely offers. It does not provide aortic pressure or ejection fraction, and it does not measure coronary blood flow.

A Swan-Ganz catheter provides a comprehensive hemodynamic profile by sampling pressures along the right heart and pulmonary circulation and by measuring cardiac output. It is advanced from a central vein into the right atrium, then the right ventricle, and into a branch of the pulmonary artery. The balloon at the tip can be inflated to occlude a small pulmonary artery branch, yielding the pulmonary capillary wedge pressure, which reflects left atrial pressure. From this setup you obtain right atrial pressure, right ventricular pressure, pulmonary arterial pressures, the wedge pressure, and cardiac output by thermodilution. This combination of measurements is what the Swan-Ganz catheter uniquely offers.

It does not provide aortic pressure or ejection fraction, and it does not measure coronary blood flow.