ABSTRACT
Interpretation of pressure waveforms involves careful and continued calibration of pressure transducers, physiological reporting devices and cardiac output modules. There may also be times when the accuracy of automatic equipment needs to be checked by manual methods. When interpreting data, consideration must be given to heart rate, cardiac rhythm, pressure scale, recording speed, the waveform of normal physiology related to the cardiac chamber being examined, the disease state under investigation and the differential diagnosis. This chapter deals with the most common conditions likely to be encountered.
