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Previous Volume 348:66-68 January 2, 2003 Number 1 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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Pulmonary-artery catheters are widely used in critically ill patients both for diagnosis and to guide therapy. According to current estimates, there are more than 1.2 million pulmonary-artery catheters placed annually in the United States, with associated costs of over $2 billion.¹ A layperson might assume that if a form of medical technology is so widely used, there must be clear-cut indications for its clinical use. Unfortunately, that would be an incorrect assumption. The indications for placement of a pulmonary-artery catheter, the interpretation of the data generated by the catheter, and the goals for therapy directed by it all remain to . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Source Information

From the University of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Bhatia, P., Saied, N. N., Comunale, M. E. (2004). Management of an Unusual Complication During Placement of a Pulmonary Artery Catheter. Anesth. Analg. 99: 669-671 [Abstract] [Full Text]