Amalgamation of left atrial pressure measurement into the assessment of the transpulmonary circuit may have a particular role in differentiating cardiac failure phenotypes in critical care.
This review provides an overview of left atrial physiology and the clinical application of invasive and non-invasive methods for bedside assessment of left atrial pressure in critically ill patients.
Evaluating left atrial pressure (LAP) solely from the left ventricular preload perspective is a restrained approach. Accurate assessment of LAP is particularly relevant when pulmonary congestion and/or right heart dysfunction are present since it is the pressure most closely related to pulmonary venous pressure and thus pulmonary haemodynamic load. Amalgamation of LAP measurement into assessment of the 'transpulmonary circuit' may have a particular role in differentiating cardiac failure phenotypes in critical care. Most of the literature in this area involves cardiology patients, and gaps of knowledge in application to the bedside of the critically ill patient remain significant. Explored in this review is an overview of left atrial physiology, invasive and non-invasive methods of LAP measurement and their potential clinical application.
Bowcock et al. (Sat,) conducted a review in Critical illness requiring left atrial pressure assessment. Bedside assessment of left atrial pressure was evaluated. Amalgamation of left atrial pressure measurement into the assessment of the transpulmonary circuit may have a particular role in differentiating cardiac failure phenotypes in critical care.