SOME FACTORS AFFECTING THE AUSCULTATORY MEASUREMENT OF ARTERIAL BLOOD PRESSURES

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Abstract
Auscultatory blood pressure measurements have been compared to intraarterial lateral and end pressures. It was found that auscultatory measurements, which are dependent upon the penetration of pulse waves through a compressed segment of artery, were influenced by various factors. When auscultatory measurements approximated or exceeded intra-arterial pressures, broad pulses were found; when auscultatory measurements were below intraarterial pressures, narrow pulses were found. By measuring tissue pressures under a cuff it was shown that cuffs subtended only a relatively short narrow band of equal pressure into the tissues. Hence narrow cuffs or, conversely, large arms that allowed only a fraction of the applied pressure to reach the artery caused high auscultatory measurements of both systolic and diastolic pressure. It was concluded that pulse contour and arm size were major causes of the auscultatory systolic errors while the diastolic errors were due to arm size plus unknown factors.

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