Central Venous Pressure
Venous pressure is a term that represents the average blood pressure within the venous compartment. The term "central venous pressure" (CVP) describes the pressure in the thoracic vena cava near the right atrium (therefore CVP and right atrial pressure are essentially the same). CVP is an important concept in clinical cardiology because it is a major determinant of the filling pressure and therefore the preload of the right ventricle, which regulates stroke volume through the Frank-Starling mechanism.
A change in CVP (ΔCVP) is determined by the change in volume (ΔV) of blood within the thoracic veins divided by the compliance (Cv) of the these veins according to the following equation: