Pitfalls in the interpretation of pulmonary capillary wedge pressure.

The measurement and interpretation of pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) is often vital to the correct management of patients. In this article some pitfalls associated with PCWP measurement are discussed. The physiology of PCWP preload and the Starling curve are described. PCWP indirectly measures left ventricular end-diastolic volumes: the interpretation of this correlation is altered under certain circumstances, and these are described.