Cardiac Catheterization in Cases of Patent Interauricular Septum, Primary Pulmonary Hypertension, Fallot's Tetralogy, and Pulmonary Stenosis

The clinical and radiological findings in auricular and ventricular septal defects are well known. In many cases, however, the diagnosis may remain uncertain without pathological examination. The development of the technique ofcardiac catheterization as a simple and safe procedure indicated a method for the detection of intracardiac shunts, and a number of reports on the use of the method have already been published Not only can interauricular and interventricular shunts be demonstrated, but the amount of blood shunted and the pressure in the chambers of the right heart may be measured. In certain cases the demonstration that no shunt exists may be helpful in diagnosis. This paper reports data in a number of cases that were suspected on clinical grounds of having intracardiac shunts.