Estimation of Right Atrial Pressure from the Inspiratory Collapse of the Inferior Vena cava in Pediatric Patients.

Objective: Paucity of data exists between mean right atrial pressure (RAP) and inferior vena cava (IVC) size and collapsibility in pediatric patients with congenital heart disease.

Methods: In a prospective study, fifty consecutive pediatric patients with different congenital heart diseases who had right side cardiac catheterization were studied, comparing right atrial pressure with simultaneous M-mode echocardiographic measurement of inferior vena cava diameter. Mean age of the patients was 4.