An alternative method for coordinating pulmonary capillary wedge pressure measurements with the respiratory cycle

Hemodynamic waveform analysis

The pulmonary artery catheter provides the opportunity to acquire indirectly important diagnostic and therapeutic information about the function of the two pumping chambers of the heart--the right and left ventricles--during the two phases of the cardiac cycle--systole and diastole. Appropriate use of hemodynamic data acquired via the pulmonary artery catheter requires the accurate measurement, analysis, and interpretation of hemodynamic pressure waveforms.