Pulmonary wedge pressure

Diagram of a pulmonary artery catheter in position

The pulmonary wedge pressure (PWP) (also called pulmonary arterial wedge pressure (PAWP), pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP), pulmonary artery occlusion pressure (PAOP), or cross-sectional pressure) is the pressure measured by wedging a pulmonary artery catheter with an inflated balloon into a small pulmonary arterial branch.[1] It estimates the left atrial pressure.

Pulmonary venous wedge pressure (PVWP) is not synonymous with the above; PVWP has been shown to correlate with pulmonary artery pressures in studies, albeit unreliably.[citation needed]

Physiologically, distinctions can be drawn among pulmonary artery pressure, pulmonary capillary wedge pressure, pulmonary venous pressure and left atrial pressure, but not all of these can be measured in a clinical context.[2]

Noninvasive estimation techniques have been proposed.[3]

  1. ^ Peacock, Andrew J.; Lewis J. Rubin (2004). Pulmonary Circulation: Diseases and their treatment. Arnold Publisher. ISBN 978-0-340-80782-8.
  2. ^ Chaliki HP, Hurrell DG, Nishimura RA, Reinke RA, Appleton CP (July 2002). "Pulmonary venous pressure: relationship to pulmonary artery, pulmonary wedge, and left atrial pressure in normal, lightly sedated dogs". Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions. 56 (3): 432–8. doi:10.1002/ccd.10203. PMID 12112902. S2CID 25152352.
  3. ^ Uzun M, Erinc K, Kirilmaz A, et al. (November 2004). "A novel method to estimate pulmonary artery wedge pressure using the downslope of the Doppler mitral regurgitant velocity profile". Echocardiography. 21 (8): 673–9. doi:10.1111/j.0742-2822.2004.03174.x. PMID 15546367. S2CID 25261136.