Estimation of pulmonary capillary pressure different methods for different pathophysiological processes.docVIP

Available online /content/9/2/143 Commentary Estimation of pulmonary capillary pressure: different methods for different pathophysiological processes? Silvia Nunes Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland Corresponding author: Silvia Nunes, silvia.nunes@pshp.fi Published online: 17 February 2005 Critical Care 2005, 9:143-144 (DOI 10.1186/cc3060) This article is online at /content/9/2/143 ? 2005 BioMed Central Ltd See related research by Souza et al. in this issue [/content/9/2/R132] Abstract resistance is also present [2]. In these patients, the use of a biexponential approach for the analysis of the pulmonary arterial pressure decay after occlusion appears to be more suitable than a monoexponential approach. A biexponential fit provides an estimation of both the fast and slow components In the absence of a direct method with which to measure pulmonary capillary pressure in humans, various methods for analyzing the pulmonary artery pressure decay following balloon occlusion have been described. In this issue of Critical Care, Souza and coworkers investigate the adequacy of these methods for assessing various pathophysiological processes. They studied patients presenting with pathologies characterized by different distributions of pulmonary vascular resistance. Their findings suggest that no single method for estimating pulmonary capillary pressure is adequate for all disease processes. of the pulmonary pressure drop, and therefore avoids assumptions regarding the time needed for emptying of the arterial compartment, which is markedly prolonged in this pathophysiological situation [3]. A monoexponential fit starting from 200 ms after occlusion may still include part of the pressure trace resulting from emptying of the pulmonary arterial compartment, as was suggested by the f