title: Direct Measurement of Left Atrial Pressure during Routine Transradial Catheterization.
abstract: Left atrial pressure indicates the left ventricular filling pressure in patients who have systolic or diastolic left ventricular dysfunction or valvular heart disease. The use of indirect surrogate methods to determine left atrial pressure has been essential in the modern evaluation and treatment of cardiovascular disease because of the difficulty and inherent risks associated with direct methods (typically the transseptal approach). One method that has been widely used to determine left atrial pressure indirectly is Swan-Ganz catheterization, in which a balloon-flotation technique is applied to measure pulmonary capillary wedge pressure; however, this approach has been associated with several limitations and potential risks. Measuring left ventricular end-diastolic pressure has also been widely used as a simple means to estimate filling pressures but remains a surrogate for the gold standard of directly measuring left atrial pressure. We describe a simple, low-risk method to directly measure left atrial pressure that involves the use of standard coronary catheterization techniques during a transradial procedure.
authors.forename: Faisal
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fa'ak
authors.forename: Bahaeddin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Shabaneh
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Younis
mesh_terms: D016279:Atrial Function, Left; D062185:Atrial Pressure; D006328:Cardiac Catheterization / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D062906:Cardiac Catheters; D002406:Catheterization, Peripheral / Q000379:methods*; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011669:Pulmonary Wedge Pressure; D011677:Punctures; D017534:Radial Artery; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014160:Transducers, Pressure; D016277:Ventricular Function, Left; D017725:Ventricular Pressure
keywords: Blood pressure/left atrial; capillary wedge pressure/hemodynamics/physiology; cardiac catheterization/instrumentation/methods/transradial; catheterization, central venous; clinical protocols; heart atria; hemodynamics/physiology; risk factors