A thin, flexible tube that is i nserted through one
of the large veins (the inferior or superior vena cava) that return blood to the
heart. The catheter is flow-directed. It uses a balloon to carry it through the
vena cava to the heart, through the right side of the heart (the right atrium and
right ventricle) to the pulmonary artery. Once there, the catheter is purposely
positioned in a small branch of the pulmonary artery. Then a pressure called the
pulmonary wedge pressure is measured in front of the temporarily inflated and wedged
balloon.
The catheter is named for the American cardiologists Harold James C. Swan (1922-)
and William Ganz (1919-) who designed it for this purpose.
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