Balloon Flotation Catheters

Abstract

IN THE past decade, acute myocardial infarction has rightly received increasing attention among the medical community. In many patients, a principal cause of death— primary arrhythmias—can now be prevented, and, in others, the catastrophic consequences are frequently rectified by prompt cardiopulmonary resuscitation and electrical countershock. This major achievement was the outcome of the development of equipment suitable for continuous monitoring of cardiac rhythm, associated with advances in antiarrhythmic therapy. Thus, the oscilloscope, adapted for monitoring applications, allows for the prompt and accurate recognition of a cardiac arrhythmia, its designation as lethal, major, or minor, and permits immediate effective treatment. However, the other principal pathophysiological consequence of acute myocardial infarction is an alteration of cardiac function. The output of the heart usually decreases, the filling pressure of the ventricle increases, and both contractility and compliance may, but do not necessarily, decrease. The development of an appropriate device, the Swan-Ganz balloon flotation