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The Methodology of Blood Pressure Recording

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Cardiovascular System

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Abstract

Blood pressure is a continuous physiological variable. The heart beats approximately 110,000 times in 24 h and each beat generates a systolic and a diastolic pressure. While directional changes over each 24 h period can be defined (Millar Craig, Bishop and Raftery, 1978), no two beats generate exactly the same pressures; beat-to-beat pressure variation appears to be a random process influenced by an almost infinite number of variables (Goldberg, 1977). Minute to minute variation also appears to be a random process, with changes in physical activity exerting a strong directional influence. Direct comparability is not seen in pressure samples of less than 3 h and even then underlying circadian rhythms have a pronounced influence. It is plainly inconceivable that any random measurement of blood pressure should be representative of any patient’s ‘blood pressure’; it cannot represent anything more than the blood pressure generated by the heart of that individual under the prevailing conditions (Figure 1).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Northwick Park Hospital, Harrow, Middlesex, UK

    E. B. Raftery

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  1. E. B. Raftery
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Editor information

Robin G. Shanks

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© 1980 Macmillan Publishers Limited

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Raftery, E.B. (1980). The Methodology of Blood Pressure Recording. In: Shanks, R.G. (eds) Cardiovascular System. Palgrave, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-05380-3_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-05380-3_4

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-349-05382-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-349-05380-3

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