Pulse pressure is the change in blood pressure seen during a contraction of the heart. A sphygmomanometer, a device used for measuring blood pressure. ... The heart and lungs, from an older edition of Grays Anatomy. ...

Calculation

Formally it is the systolic pressure minus the diastolic pressure.^[1]

It can be calculated by (stroke volume/compliance). In cardiovascular physiology, stroke volume (SV) is the volume of blood ejected from a ventricle with each beat of the heart. ... Compliance can mean: In mechanical science, the inverse of stiffness (see stiffness). ...

==Values and variation

Usually, the resting pulse pressure in healthy adults, sitting position, is about 40 mmHg. The pulse pressure increases with exercise due to increased stroke volume, healthy values being up to pulse pressures of about ? mmHg, simultaneously as total peripheral resistance drops during exercise. In healthy individuals the pulse pressure will typically return to normal within about 10 minutes. In medicine, a persons pulse is the throbbing of their arteries as an effect of the heart beat. ... 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. ... Total peripheral resistance refers the cumulative resistance of the thousands of arterioles in the body, or the lungs, respectively. ...

For most individuals, during exercise, the systolic pressure progressively increases while the diastolic remains about the same. In some very aerobically athletic individuals, the diastolic will progressively fall as the systolic increases. This behavior facilitates a much greater increase in stroke volume and cardiac output at a lower mean arterial pressure and enables much greater aerobic capacity and physical performance. The diastolic drop reflects a much greater fall in total peripheral resistance of the muscle arterioles in response to the exercise (a greater proportion of red versus white muscle tissue). Systolic is the adjective form of systole, typically referring to the contraction activity of the heart. ... Diastolic is the adjective form of diastole referring to relaxation of the heart, between muscle contractions. ... Diastolic is the adjective form of diastole referring to relaxation of the heart, between muscle contractions. ... Systolic is the adjective form of systole, typically referring to the contraction activity of the heart. ... In cardiovascular physiology, stroke volume (SV) is the volume of blood ejected from a ventricle with each beat of the heart. ... Cardiac output is the volume of blood being pumped by the heart, in particular a ventricle in a minute. ... The mean arterial pressure (MAP) is a term used in medicine to describe a notional average blood pressure in an individual. ... An arteriole is a blood vessel that extends and branches out from an artery and leads to capillaries. ...

Low values

If the usual resting pulse pressure is measured as less than 40 mmHg, the most common reason is an error of measurement. If the pulse pressure is genuinely low, e.g. 25 mmHg or less, the cause may be low stroke volume, as in Congestive Heart Failure and/or shock, a serious issue. This interpretation is reinforced if the resting heart rate is relatively rapid, e.g. 100-120 (in normal sinus rhythm), reflecting increased sympathetic nervous system activity. Congestive heart failure (CHF), also called congestive cardiac failure (CCF) or just heart failure, is a condition that can result from any structural or functional cardiac disorder that impairs the ability of the heart to fill with or pump a sufficient amount of blood throughout the body. ... Shock is a serious medical condition where the tissue perfusion is insufficient to meet the required supply of oxygen and nutrients. ... The normal electrical conduction in the heart allows the impulse that is generated by the SA node of the heart to be propagated to (and stimulate) the myocardium (muscle of the heart). ...

High values

If the usual resting pulse pressure is consistently greater than 40 mmHg, e.g. 60 or 80 mmHg, the most likely basis is stiffness of the major arteries, aortic regurgitation (a leak in the aortic valve), an extra path for the blood to travel from the arteries to the veins, hyperthyroidism or some combination. (A chronically increased stroke volume is also a technical possibility, but very rare in practice.) Some drugs for hypertension have the side effect of increasing resting pulse pressure irreversibly. A high resting pulse pressure is harmful and tends to accelerate the normal ageing of body organs, particularly the heart, the brain and kidneys. == Aortic insufficiency (AI), also known as aortic regurgitation (AR), is the leaking of the aortic valve of the heart that causes blood to flow in the reverse direction during ventricular diastole, from the aorta into the left ventricle. ... The aortic valve is one of the valves of the heart. ... Hyperthyroidism (or overactive thyroid gland) is the clinical syndrome caused by an excess of circulating free thyroxine (T4) or free triiodothyronine (T3), or both. ...

Relationship to heart disease

Recent work suggests that a high pulse pressure is an important risk factor for heart disease. A meta-analysis in 2000, which combined the results of several studies of 8,000 elderly patients in all, found that a 10 mm Hg increase in pulse pressure increased the risk of major cardiovascular complications and mortality by nearly 20%^[2]. The authors suggest that this helps to explain the apparent increase in risk sometimes associated with low diastolic pressure, and warn that some medications for high blood pressure may actually increase the pulse pressure and the risk of heart disease.

See also

• Blood pressure
• Mean arterial pressure

A sphygmomanometer, a device used for measuring blood pressure. ... The mean arterial pressure (MAP) is a term used in medicine to describe a notional average blood pressure in an individual. ...

References

1. ^ Physiology at MCG 3/3ch7/s3ch7_5
2. ^ http://www.mercola.com/2000/jun/17/pulse_pressure.htm