The University of Pennsylvania Medical Center
For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, August 20, 1997
Contact:
Diane Giaccone
(215) 662-2098
[email protected]
Penn Physicians to Help Define National Guidelines for Pulmonary Artery Catheterization
Practice Guidelines Should Quell Current Controversy
(Philadelphia, PA) -- Medical doctors from across the nation --
including five clinical specialists at the University of
Pennsylvania Medical Center -- have been invited to participate
in the development of universal practice guidelines for the use
of pulmonary artery (PA) catheters at the Workshop on Pulmonary
Artery Catheterization and Clinical Outcomes (PACCO). The PACCO
Workshop, scheduled to take place on August 25 - 26 in
Alexandria, VA, was coordinated by the National Heart, Lung, and
Blood Institute of the NIH and the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) in response to recent studies raising concerns about the
increased mortality associated with the use of PA catheters.
Available and increasingly utilized for the past 25 years,
more than one million PA catheters are used each year in the
United States alone. "The PA catheter is employed daily to
obtain data to help physicians determine, monitor, and modify
therapy in critically ill patients -- including those with
complicated heart attacks, respiratory heart failure, congestive
heart failure, and primary pulmonary hypertension, to name a
few," explains Harold Palevsky, MD, director of the Pulmonary
Vascular Disease Program at Penn and a topic leader on PA
catheter use with respiratory diseases at the Workshop. "Many
physicians -- especially those in intensive-care settings -- have
been greatly affected by the controversy generated by recent
studies. The purpose of the Workshop is to develop practical
guidelines for the use of PA catheters, to consider credentialing
for physician and nurse users, and to scientifically determine
clinical benefits and/or harm associated with the procedure."
To date, there have been no successful randomized clinical trials
performed to collect substantial information discerning the harm
or benefit of PA catheterization, nor are there any standard
indications for its use. The general lack of scientific evidence
regarding the use of PA catheters and the subsequent controversy
has compelled the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and
FDA to develop practical guidelines for the safe use of PA
catheters in the care of critically ill patients.
A prestigious group of highly qualified medical leaders have been
specially selected to participate in this Workshop; five of whom
are Penn doctors -- L. Henry Edmunds, MD, professor of
cardiothoracic surgery and co-chairman of the trauma,
perioperative management session (cardiac and vascular surgery
topics); Harold Palevsky, MD, associate professor of
pulmonary/critical care medicine and a topic leader in the
respiratory diseases session; Sanford J. Schwartz, MD, professor
of medicine, health management, and economics and a topic leader
in the trauma, perioperative management session; Jeffrey P.
Carpenter, MD, assistant professor of surgery and a topic leader
in the trauma, perioperative management session (cardiac and
vascular surgery topics); C. William Hanson III, MD, assistant
professor of anesthesia and chief of anesthesia/critical care
medicine who will contribute to the trauma, perioperative
management session (cardiac and vascular surgery topics). As
five of just seven doctors invited from the entire Delaware
Valley region, their purpose is to provide authoritative
information and expertise in understanding the state of knowledge
concerning the use of PA catheters, to define critical questions
in regards to proper usage and finally, to make recommendations
for clinical practice and research in this field.
The Workshop will be comprised of a full day of group sessions on
topics including respiratory diseases, trauma/perioperative
management, sepsis/multi-organ dysfunction syndrome, and
cardiovascular diseases. Topic leaders and co-chairs from each
group will meet on the second day to report their recommendations
and to form a summary for the final written recommendations that
will be presented upon the Workshop's completion.
# # #
Diane Giaccone
Press Officer
Media Relations / Department of Public Affairs
University of Pennsylvania Medical Center
220 Blockley Hall / 418 Service Drive
Philadelphia, PA 19104
ph: (215)662-2098
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