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The pressure in the left atrium of the heart may be estimated by measuring the pulmonary wedge pressure. This technique uses an inflated balloon-tipped catheter, which is passed through the chambers of the heart from an incision in a peripheral artery. The catheter is directed by the force of the blood flow on the balloon. It is eventually positioned so that the tip of the catheter is wedged into one of the small vessels leading to the lungs. Since this blocks the local flow, the pressure in the capillary bed of the lungs can be measured. The pressure across the capillary bed of the lungs is small and so this approximates to the left atrial pressure.
Such catheters can be positioned without fluoroscopic (X- ray) assistance and can be used for medium-term monitoring in the intensive care unit as well as in the cardiac catheter laboratory.
The left atrial pressure is a useful index of cardiac performance.
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