Central venous pressure monitoring: clinical insights beyond the numbers

CVP monitoring as a safe, cost-effective alternative to PA monitoring continues to have strong advocates. Recent reports suggest that outcome following major aortic reconstructive and cardiac surgery may be equivalent with either CVP or PA monitoring, thus encouraging use of the simpler, cheaper, and safer alternative. As observant clinicians give CVP monitoring renewed attention, a wealth of useful circulatory information becomes available, which has been obscured by the failure to look beyond the numbers.