Editing Cardiac catheterization (section)

===Right heart catheterization (RHC)===
[[File:Pulmonary artery Catheter.png|thumb|300px|Right heart cath using a Swan-Ganz pulmonary artery catheter]]

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. [[Cardiac Output#Pulmonary artery thermodilution (trans-right-heart thermodilution)|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.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

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.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

Parameters obtainable from a right heart catheterization:{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}
* Right atrial pressure
* Right ventricular pressure
* Pulmonary artery pressure
* Pulmonary capillary wedge pressure
* Systemic vascular resistance
* Pulmonary vascular resistance
* Cardiac output
* Blood oxygenation