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Pulmonary Artery Catheter

Pulmonary Artery Catheterization (Right Heart Catheterization) is used to obtain diagnostic information about the heart. In this procedure the doctor places a thin, flexible tube (called a Swan-Ganz catheter) usually in the subclavian vein of the patient’s upper chest and then threads it into the right ventricle and pulmonary artery. This is a common way to measure the pressure in the pulmonary artery and find out what treatment is appropriate for a given patient. It can be used in critically ill patients to provide continuous monitoring of heart function. It is also used to evaluate primary pulmonary hypertension. (Sometimes called Swan-Ganz Catheterization).

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