Blood pressure measurement during tachyarhythmia: validation of a graduated measuring technique with an intra-arterial technique
Mueller, X.M.; Berger, J.P.
Schweizerische Medizinische Wochenschrift 122(51-52): 1961-1964
1992
ISSN/ISBN: 0036-7672 PMID: 1475660 Document Number: 402971
Use of the usual technique to measure blood pressure is known to be unsatisfactory in tachyarrhythmia. An easy and non-invasive technique, called the stage by stage method, has therefore been proposed. The aim of the present study is to verify the precision of this method by comparison with intraarterial measurements. The study was performed in 9 tachyarrhythmic patients with heart rate over 90/min and wide systolic pulse amplitude variations. For systolic pressure, the results show an excellent correlation between the blood pressure values obtained by the stage by stage method and those obtained by intraarterial measurements (r = 0.99; p > 0.01). For diastolic pressure, the best practical approximation is the value of the last stage before all sounds have disappeared plus 5 mm Hg. We conclude that the bedside stage by method is worth performing in patients presenting with tachyarrhythmia and wide systolic pressure variations from one systole to the other.