Pulmonary artery catheter

Last revised by Daniel J Bell on 8 Aug 2022

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

Bell D, Er A, Knipe H, et al. Pulmonary artery catheter. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 19 Apr 2024) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-56188

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-56188

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/56188

rID:

56188

Article created:

16 Oct 2017, Daniel J Bell ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created Daniel J Bell had no recorded disclosures.

View Daniel J Bell's current disclosures

Last revised:

8 Aug 2022, Daniel J Bell ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised Daniel J Bell had no financial relationships to ineligible companies to disclose.

View Daniel J Bell's current disclosures

Revisions:

14 times, by 7 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures

Systems:

Vascular, Chest

Sections:

Interventional Radiology

Synonyms:

Swan-Ganz catheters
Swan-Ganz catheter
Swan Ganz catheters
Swan Ganz catheter
Pulmonary artery catheters

Pulmonary artery catheters (or Swan-Ganz catheters) are balloon flotation catheters that can be inserted simply, quickly, with little training and without fluoroscopic guidance, at the bedside, even in the seriously ill patient, into the pulmonary arteries.

Usage

Historically, pulmonary artery catheters were widely used to measure right heart hemodynamic indices and pulmonary arterial and capillary wedge pressures. More recently their use has fallen out of favor ¹, due to adverse trial data, however, they still have important niche uses.

These catheters should ideally be positioned in the proximal right or left main pulmonary artery.

History and etymology

The first balloon flotation flow-directed catheter that did not require image-guidance for insertion and therefore could be inserted at the bedside was introduced in 1970 ² by William Ganz (1919 - 2009) ³ and HJC (Harold James Charles) "Jeremy" Swan (1922-2005) ⁴, both cardiologists at Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles.