[Transvenous monitoring of left atrial and central venous pressure with a double-lumen catheter].

We developed a new method to monitor left atrial pressure in the patients undergoing open heart surgery. The advantages of our method are 1) freedom from complications relating its removal (eg. bleeding) because of its transvenous insertion, and 2) simultaneous monitoring of both right and left atrial pressures by a single catheter. We designed to place the second port of a two-lumen central venous catheter 5 or 7 cm proximal to the tip. The catheter is inserted into the right atrium before surgery and the tip is advanced in the left atrium through the foramen ovale intraoperatively. We used this catheter in 16 infants and children, and found that effective hemodynamic monitoring was obtained without any complications. We recommend this method for the postoperative management of open heart surgery in the pediatric patients.