The pulmonary artery catheter

First developed more than 20 years ago as a research tool for investigations of myocardial infarction, the pulmonary artery or Swan-Ganz catheter has gained general usage as a valuable clinical tool. Its development paralleled the rapid growth of technological advancements in clinical medicine. Rapid incorporation of technological advancements into clinical practice, however, is not without risk. Care must be taken to assure that clinicians possess the understanding of both basic concepts and requisite hardware to provide quality patient care. Equipment selection and calibration, patient selection, data interpretation, potential complications, troubleshooting, and procedure limitations must all be considered. Broader application of the Swan-Ganz catheter in surgery, anesthesiology, and critical care as well as in cardiology has provided information on hemodynamics that has had considerable impact on diagnostics as well as on therapy for patients with a wide variety of clinical conditions.