Pulmonary artery wedge Pressure

The pulmonary artery wedge pressure or PWP is also referred to as the pulmonary capillary wedge pressure or PCWP. There are various instances when PWP is also referred to as pulmonary artery occlusion pressure or PAOP. In this method the  pulmonary artery wedge pressure at a point from the occlusion of the artery can be measured with the aid of a pulmonary artery catheter.

A catheter is a tube that is inserted in the valves or vessels in order to treat the various heart ailments. The pulmonary artery wedge pressure is measured with the aid of catheter that is introduced into the heart through the right atrium, right ventricle and then into the pulmonary artery. This procedure is used in order to measure the pulmonary venous pressure, pulmonary artery pressure, pulmonary artery wedge pressure and left atrial pressure in the heart.

In this process a swan ganz catheter that has balloon tipped multi lumen catheter r is introduced into the heart. This catheter is inflated with air  and it comes with another opening that is placed at a  distance . The two portals are connected to a pressure transducer that is used for recording the pulmonary artery and right atrial pressure. Similarly the left atrial pressure is also recorded. The findings of the pulmonary artery wedge pressure are useful for analyzing the pulmonary hypertension.

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