The mean arterial pressure (MAP) is a term used in medicine to describe a notional average blood pressure in an individual. It is defined as the average arterial pressure during a single cardiac cycle. Blood pressure is the pressure exerted by the blood on the walls of the blood vessels. ... Cardiac cycle is the term used to describe the sequence of events that occur as a heart works to pump blood through the body. ...

, where

• CO is cardiac output
• SVR is systemic vascular resistance
• CVP is central venous pressure

CVP is usually small enough to be neglected in this formula.

At normal resting heart rates MAP can be approximated using the more easily measured systolic and diastolic pressures, SP and DP: Cardiac cycle is the term used to describe the sequence of events that occur as a heart works to pump blood through the body. ... A sphygmomanometer, a device used for measuring blood pressure. ...

or

MAP = [(2 x diastolic) + systolic] / 3

or equivalently

where PP is the pulse pressure, SP − DP Pulse pressure is the change in blood pressure seen during a contraction of the heart. ...

At high heart rates MAP is more closely approximated by the arithmetic mean of systolic and diastolic pressures because of the change in shape of the arterial pressure pulse.

MAP is considered to be the perfusion pressure seen by organs in the body. It is believed that a MAP of greater than 60 mmHg is enough to sustain the organs of the average person under most conditions. If the MAP falls significantly below this number for an appreciable time, the end organ will not get enough blood flow, and will become ischemic. In biology, an organ (Latin: organum, instrument, tool) is a group of tissues that perform a specific function or group of functions. ... One way of defining pressure is in terms of the height of a column of fluid that may be supported by that pressure; or the height of a column of fluid that exerts that pressure at its base. ... In medicine, ischemia (Greek ισχαιμία, isch- is restriction, hema or haema is blood) is a restriction in blood supply, generally due to factors in the blood vessels, with resultant damage or dysfunction of tissue. ...

See also

• Blood pressure
• Hypertension
• Pulse pressure

Blood pressure is the pressure exerted by the blood on the walls of the blood vessels. ... For other forms of hypertension see hypertension (disambiguation). ... Pulse pressure is the change in blood pressure seen during a contraction of the heart. ...

External links

• Cardiovascular Physiology Concepts: Mean Arterial Pressure, Richard E. Klabunde, Ph.D