Inferior vena cava occlusion catheter for pediatric patients with heart disease: For more detailed cardiovascular assessments

Traditional evaluation of cardiac function is too often limited by reliance on measurements with complex interdependence between cardiac properties an d loading factors. Analysis by ventricular pressure-volume (P-V), -area (P- A), or-dimension (P-D) relations during inferior vena caval (IVC) occlusion independently quantifies ventricular properties and loading conditions, pr oviding detailed information about cardiovascular dynamics. However, there has been no appropriate size of balloon catheter that can effectively occlu de IVC of pediatric patients, hindering the application of P-V (P-A, or P-D ) analysis to children with heart disease despite its potential benefit. To address this problem, we have developed a new balloon catheter for IVC occ lusion in children. The catheter effectively occluded IVC in 92 pediatric p atients with varying forms of heart disease who underwent cardiac catheteri zation, yielding end-systolic pressure-area relations. Thus a newly develop ed balloon catheter would contribute to establishing more accurate and deta iled cardiovascular assessments in children with heart disease. (C) 2001 Wi ley-Liss, Inc.