PULMONARY CAPILLARY PRESSURE IN ANIMALS ESTIMATED BY VENOUS AND ARTERIAL CATHETERIZATION

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Abstract
A venous catheter was introduced into the pulmonary artery of dogs and wedged into a distal ramification so as to obstruct its lumen. Pressures beyond the point of obstruction were recorded through a hole in the tip of the catheter with a Hamilton manometer and with a saline column. An arterial catheter was introduced by way of the carotid artery and left side of the heart into a pulmonary vein in similar fashion and pressures were similarly recorded. In dogs, the pressures recorded with a Hamilton manometer through the catheter blocking the pulmonary artery varied between 5 and 18, with an avg. of 6 mm. Hg while those measured simultaneously through the catheter blocking the pulmonary vein varied between 6 and 14, with an avg. of 10 mm. Hg. The former is probably lower than true pulmonary capillary pressure by the "velocity factor," and the latter too high by this same factor. It is suggested that true mean capillary pressure with unobstructed flow normally lies between these 2 figures, the avg. in 6 animals varying between 5.5 and 10 mm. Hg, with an avg. of 8.3 mm. Hg. It is considered that damage to the left side of the heart from arterial catheterization prohibits its use in man.

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