page_title: Cardiac catheterization
section_title: Right heart catheterization
hierarchical_section_title: Cardiac catheterization / Uses / Right heart catheterization
caption_attribution_description: English: Anatomy of right heart catheterization (Swan-Ganz catheter)
context_page_description: Cardiac catheterization is the insertion of a catheter into a chamber or vessel of the heart. This is done both for diagnostic and interventional purposes. A common example of cardiac catheterization is coronary catheterization that involves catheterization of the coronary arteries for coronary artery disease and myocardial infarctions. Catheterization is most often performed in special laboratories with fluoroscopy and highly maneuverable tables. These "cath labs" are often equipped with cabinets of catheters, stents, balloons, etc. of various sizes to increase efficiency. Monitors show the fluoroscopy imaging, EKG, pressure waves, and more.
context_section_description: Right heart catheterization (RHC) allows the physician to determine the pressures within the heart (intracardiac pressures). The heart is most often accessed via the internal jugular or femoral vein; arteries are not used. Values are commonly obtained for the right atrium, right ventricle, pulmonary artery, and pulmonary capillary "wedge" pressures. Right heart catheterizations also allow the physician to estimate the cardiac output, the amount of blood that flows from the heart each minute, and the cardiac index, a hemodynamic parameter that relates the cardiac output to a patient's body size. Determination of cardiac output can be done by releasing a small amount of saline solution (either chilled or at room temperature) in one area of the heart and measuring the change in blood temperature over time in another area of the heart.
  Right heart catheterization is often done for pulmonary hypertension, heart failure, and cardiogenic shock. The pulmonary artery catheter can be placed, used, and removed, or it can be placed and left in place for continuous monitoring. The latter can be done an intensive care unit (ICU) to permit frequent measurement of the hemodynamic parameters in response to interventions.
  Parameters obtainable from a right heart catheterization:
  Right atrial pressure
  Right ventricular pressure
  Pulmonary artery pressure
  Pulmonary capillary wedge pressure
  Systemic vascular resistance
  Pulmonary vascular resistance
  Cardiac output
  Blood oxygenation
  Implantation of a CardioMEMS is done during a right heart catheterization. This device is implanted into the pulmonary artery to permit real-time measurement of the pulmonary artery pressure over time.
caption: Right heart cath using a Swan-Ganz pulmonary artery catheter
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