Ever wonder why a pulmonary artery catheter is also called a Swan?
In the late 1960s, Dr. Jeremy Swan was inspired by the movement of sailboats to develop the balloon tip we use today. Dr. William Ganz's
Ever wonder why a pulmonary artery catheter is also called a Swan?
In the late 1960s, Dr. Jeremy Swan was inspired by the movement of sailboats to develop the balloon tip we use today. Dr. William Ganz's thermodilution method of measuring cardiac output was incorporated into the instrument—hence its other nickname, the Swan-Ganz catheter. But pulmonary artery catheterization had been accomplished in research labs for more than a century before this invention.
In fact, several Nobel Prizes have been awarded for methods of right- and left-heart catheterization. Before winning the Nobel Prize in 1956, an enterprising German surgical resident was fired for inserting a urologic catheter through a cut-down in his own forearm to his right atrium using a mirror and fluoroscopy.
The pulmonary artery (PA) catheter is introduced through a large vein into the right atrium and passes through the right ventricle; the tip resides in the pulmonary artery. Saline-filled pressurized ports in the catheter open into the ri