Jugular venous pressure (JVP) provides an indirect measure of central venous pressure. The internal jugular vein connects to the right atrium without any intervening valves - thus acting as a column for the blood in the right atrium. The JVP consists of certain waveforms and abnormalities of these can help to diagnose certain conditions1 . Unfortunately, detection of these abnormalities and even the JVP itself, can be difficult and has also been superseded by other diagnostic methods.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original article at https://patient.info/doctor/history-examination/jugular-venous-pressure