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Background: The measurement of core body temperature in the pulmonary artery (Swan-Ganz catheter) is regarded as the reference standard. Nowadays, new non-invasive methods of measuring core temperature have emerged, such as the 3M SpotOn® and the Dräger Tcore® sensor. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on patients undergoing scheduled cardiac surgery. Both devices, and the Swan-Ganz catheter, were simultaneously evaluated. The correlation of temperature values was measured using the intra-class correlation coefficient and Spearman's rank or Pearson correlation analysis. The repeated-measurements version of the Bland and Altman test were used to determine the level of agreement. Results: A total of 289 measurements were made. Analysis of Spearman rank correlation between the Swan-Ganz catheter and 3M SpotOn® pair yielded a correlation coefficient (r) of 0.82 [95% confidence interval (95% CI); 0.77–0.85, p

We describe a case of pulmonary tumor embolism (PTE) from breast cancer diagnosed by selective aspiration cytology using a Swan-Ganz catheter. A 60-year-old woman was referred to Hamanomachi Hospital because of increased levels of tumor markers. The patient complained only of slight exertional dyspnea and a dry cough. Due to breast cancer, she had undergone a mastectomy followed by radiation and chemotherapy one year earlier. Positron emission tomography scanning with CT images revealed no evidence of malignancy. Repeated chest CT images showed emerging wedge-shaped nodules in the subpleural zones of the left lower lobe with diffuse ground-glass opacities in the bilateral lower lobes. The D-dimer level was negative. Pulmonary perfusion scintigraphy showed multiple small wedge-shaped defect areas on the peripheral sides of the bilateral lungs. Suspecting PTE, we performed selective aspiration cytology from the left pulmonary arteries. Cancer cells were detected from selected branches of left A8 and A9. Morphology and immunostaining led to a final diagnosis of PTE of recurrent breast cancer. Pulmonary embolism of cancer is a progressive, fatal condition with challenging diagnosis. Selective aspiration cytology with a Swan-Ganz catheter is a useful, less invasive option in patients with suspected PTE.

Physiological measurement of pressures and flows allow the diagnosis of disease and enable the severity to be assessed. This chapter describes the principles of fluid dynamics that are fundamental to the measurement of fluid flow within the human body. The measurement of blood pressure is then described using invasive and noninvasive measurement devices. Invasive hemodynamic monitoring techniques are then explored in detail. The routinely used Swan–Gantz catheter allows the direct measurement of compartmental pressures and saturations by way of the thermodilution method to determine cardiac output. The chapter explores the novel conductance catheter technique, which can be used to measure the instantaneous beat-to-beat pressure–volume relationship, and subsequently derive load-independent measures of cardiac contractility.