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The effects of altering mean pressure, pulse pressure and pulse frequency on the impulse activity in baroreceptor fibres from the aortic arch and right subclavian artery in the rabbit.

1. A method is described for perfusing an isolated preparation of the rabbit aortic arch with independently controlled mean pressure, pulse pressure and pulse frequency.2. Recordings made from single or few-fibre preparations from the aortic arch and right subclavian baroreceptor regions show that the number of impulses per second or per cycle in a single fibre is the same during pulsatile perfusion as during non-pulsatile perfusion if the pressure is above the threshold pressure to non-pulsatile perfusion during all phases of the pressure cycle.3. In multi-fibre recordings the total number of impulses is greater during pulsatile perfusion than during non-pulsatile perfusion due largely to recruitment of fibres during systole.4. The relationship between instantaneous impulse frequency and aortic arch pressure during one pressure cycle forms an elliptiform curve.5. Increasing the pulse pressure increases the ellipse and causes additional recruitment of other fibres during systole, thus augmenting the total impulse activity.6. Increasing the pulse frequency reduces the number of impulses per cycle for single fibres but produces a small increase in the total impulse frequency in one second period due to recruitment.7. Increasing the rate of change of pressure by increasing the pulse pressure or pulse frequency produced a small reduction or no change of the threshold pressure. Similarly the ;cut off' pressure was elevated in some fibres.8. At low initial mean pressures, an increment of pressure, at constant pulse pressure and pulse frequency, increases the total impulse activity by increasing the frequency of impulses in single fibres already active during systole and diastole and by additional recruitment of other fibres. At higher mean pressures there is little increase in impulse activity as the maximum frequency of fibres is attained or superseded and there is little recruitment.

Action Potentials↗

Mean airway pressure and mean alveolar pressure during high-frequency jet ventilation in rabbits.

Mean airway pressure underestimates mean alveolar pressure during high-frequency oscillatory ventilation. We hypothesized that high inspiratory flows characteristic of high-frequency jet ventilation may generate greater inspiratory than expiratory pressure losses in the airways, thereby causing mean airway pressure to overestimate, rather than underestimate, mean alveolar pressure. To test this hypothesis, we ventilated anesthetized paralyzed rabbits with a jet ventilator at frequencies of 5, 10, and 15 Hz, constant inspiratory-to-expiratory time ratio of 0.5 and mean airway pressures of 5 and 10 cmH2O. We measured mean total airway pressure in the trachea with a modified Pitot probe, and we estimated mean alveolar pressure as the mean pressure corresponding in the static pressure-volume relationship to the mean volume of the respiratory system measured with a jacket plethysmograph. We found that mean airway pressure was similar to mean alveolar pressure at frequencies of 5 and 10 Hz but overestimated it by 1.1 and 1.4 cmH2O at mean airway pressures of 5 and 10 cmH2O, respectively, when frequency was increased to 15 Hz. We attribute this finding primarily to the combined effect of nonlinear pressure frictional losses in the airways and higher inspiratory than expiratory flows. Despite the nonlinearity of the pressure-flow relationship, inspiratory and expiratory net pressure losses decreased with respect to mean inspiratory and expiratory flows at the higher rates, suggesting rate dependence of flow distribution. Redistribution of tidal volume to a shunt airway compliance is thought to occur at high frequencies.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗

Association between local pulse pressure, mean blood pressure, and large-artery remodeling.

BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to determine the respective influences of local pulse pressure and mean blood pressure on arterial remodeling in humans at 2 arterial sites: a central, predominantly elastic artery (the common carotid artery) and a peripheral muscular artery (the radial artery). METHODS AND RESULTS: Forty-three healthy subjects and 124 never-treated hypertensive patients were included in the study. Intima-media thickness and internal diameter of the carotid and radial arteries were noninvasively determined with high-definition echo-tracking devices. Pulse pressure was measured locally with applanation tonometry. Multivariate regression models including mean blood pressure and local pulse pressure were established in the whole population. Carotid internal diameter and intima-media thickness were strongly influenced (P<0.0001) by carotid pulse pressure but not by mean blood pressure or brachial pulse pressure, independently of age and sex. Radial artery internal diameter was correlated with age but not with mean blood pressure or radial pulse pressure. Radial artery intima-media thickness was correlated with mean blood pressure (P<0.001) but not with radial pulse pressure. CONCLUSIONS: Carotid pulse pressure was a strong independent determinant of carotid artery enlargement and wall thickening, whereas mean blood pressure and brachial pulse pressure were not, indicating the prominent influence of local pulsatile mechanical load on arterial remodeling. These relationships were observed at the site of an elastic artery but not at the site of a muscular artery, suggesting the contribution of cyclic stretching to the pulse pressure-induced arterial remodeling.

Adult↗

Simultaneous determination of left ventricular end-systolic pressure-volume and pressure-dimension relationships in closed-chest dogs.

The left ventricular end-systolic pressure-volume relationship is a load-insensitive measure of left ventricular performance. The relationship at end-systole between left ventricular pressure and dimension is more easily obtained, but the conflicting results of previous studies make it unclear if it has the same properties as the left ventricular end-systolic pressure-volume relationship. To address this issue, 11 dogs were instrumented to measure left ventricular pressure and three orthogonal left ventricular dimensions. Left ventricular pressure and dimensions were varied by use of caval occlusion. Left ventricular volume was calculated as an ellipsoid. The left ventricular end-systolic pressure-volume relationship and each of the three end-systolic pressure-dimension relations were described by straight lines (r = .97 +/- .02, mean +/- SD). In six animals, dobutamine produced similar significant increases (p less than .01) in the slope of the end-systolic pressure-volume relationship (244 +/- 61% of control), the end-systolic pressure-anterior-posterior dimension relationship (248 +/- 89%), the end-systolic pressure--septal-lateral dimension relationship (211 +/- 95%), and the end-systolic pressure-basal-apical dimension relationship (210 +/- 85%). The intercepts at zero pressure were relatively unchanged by dobutamine. In contrast, occlusion of the distal left anterior descending coronary artery in five animals produced a rightward shift of the left ventricular end-systolic pressure-volume relationship and the pressure--basal-apical dimension relationship, while the pressure--anterior-posterior dimension and pressure--septal-lateral dimension relationships were relatively unaffected.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗

Pressure-flow and pressure-volume relations in the entire pulmonary vascular bed of the dog determined by two-port analysis.

To quantify the resistance and particularly the capacitance properties of the entire pulmonary vascular bed, isolated perfused lungs of nine dogs were studied. In each dog, with a fixed endotracheal pressure of 5 mm Hg, the arterial pressure-flow and pressure-volume relations were determined while venous pressure was fixed at constant values of 2, 5, and 8 mm Hg. In the same dogs, the venous pressure-flow and pressure-volume relations were also obtained when arterial pressure was fixed at constant values of 15 and 20 mm Hg. The arterial and venous pressure-flow relations could be regarded as linear around the physiological ranges of arterial and venous pressures; however, at very low pressures, these relations became nonlinear. The arterial and venous pressure-volume relations were also approximately linear within the physiological pressure ranges. The mean arterial compliance was 0.1798 ml/mm Hg kg-1 and was independent of venous pressures. The venous compliance values were 0.1236 and 0.0955 ml/mm Hg kg-1 for arterial pressures of 15 and 20 mm Hg, respectively. The sums of the arterial and venous compliances were 0.3034 and 0.2753 ml/mm Hg kg-1 for arterial pressures of 15 and 20 mm Hg, respectively. These values were nearly identical to the mean total compliance, 0.3265 ml/mm Hg kg-1, measured in a separate series of experiments in the same dogs. Therefore, the data obtained in these experiments using two-port analysis techniques represent the compliances and the resistance of the entire pulmonary vascular bed around the normal operating pressures and flows.

Animals↗

Pressure vs flow triggering during pressure support ventilation.

BACKGROUND: Adult mechanical ventilators have traditionally been pressure- or time-triggered. More recently, flow triggering has become available and some adult ventilators allow the choice between pressure or flow triggering. Prior studies have supported the superiority of flow triggering during continuous positive airway pressure, but few have compared pressure and flow triggering during pressure support ventilation (PSV). The purpose of this study was to compare pressure and flow triggering during PSV in adult mechanically ventilated patients. METHODS: The study population consisted of 10 adult patients ventilated with a mechanical ventilator (Nellcor-Puritan-Bennett 7200ae) in the PSV mode. In random order, we compared pressure triggering of -0.5 H2O, pressure triggering -1 cm H2O, flow triggering of 5/2 L/min, and flow triggering 10/3 L/min. Pressure was measured for 5 min at the proximal endotracheal tube using a data acquisition rate of 100 Hz. From the airway pressure signal, trigger pressure (deltaP) was defined as the difference between positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) and the maximum negative deflection prior to onset of the triggered breath. Pressure-time product (PTP) was defined as the area produced by the pressure waveform below PEEP during onset of the triggered breath. Trigger time (deltaT) was defined as the time interval below PEEP during onset of the triggered breath. RESULTS: A pressure trigger of -0.5 cm H2O was significantly more sensitive than the other trigger methods for deltaP, PTP, and deltaT (p<0.001). There was also a significant difference between patients for deltaP, deltaT, and PTP for each trigger method (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: For this group of patients, flow triggering was not superior to pressure triggering at -0.5 cm H2O during PSV.

Acute Disease↗

Effects of cardiac contraction and increased coronary sinus pressure on the coronary arterial pressure-flow relationship.

Increased coronary sinus (CS) pressure and cardiac contraction impair coronary inflow independently. However, it has not been determined how the coronary pressure-flow relationship is strongly affected by changes in CS pressure in the beating heart compared to the non-beating heart. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the combined mechanical effects of cardiac contraction and increased CS pressure. Using isolated, perfused canine hearts, coronary perfusion pressure in the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) was gradually reduced in beating and non-beating conditions. Measurements were obtained with and without elevation of CS pressure to determine the mean LAD pressure-flow relationships. At normal and elevated CS pressures, the corresponding zero-flow pressures were not significantly different between the beating and non-beating hearts. A rightward shift of the mean coronary perfusion pressure-coronary flow curve for the beating heart compared to the non-beating heart was observed when CS pressure was not elevated. In contrast, the slopes for both beating and non-beating hearts were similar if the CS pressure was increased. There was a smaller increase in the mean intramyocardial pressure (IMP) at elevated CS pressures in the beating heart as compared to the non-beating heart. Moreover, the increase in diastolic IMP with increased CS pressures in the beating heart was significantly less than that in the non-beating heart. These results indicate that cardiac contraction attenuates the inhibitory effects of increased CS pressure on coronary inflow.

Animals↗

[Study of standing exactitude determined by the scatter of the center of pressure--study of standing exactitude by center of pressure].

In so far as stance is maintained during various activities, the center of pressure must be maintained with a certain area. This area is the range of the center of pressure. It is influenced by standing conditions and vision. In this study we used a force platform to measure the range of the center of pressure in 10 normal adults during maximal voluntary shifting from right to left, back and forth under 6 conditions (standing conditions: both legs apart, both legs together and standing on one leg; vision: eyes open and eyes closed). We also recorded the center of pressure while standing still for 30 seconds under the above 6 conditions. The scatter of the center of pressure and the range of the center of pressure were compared. Under easy standing conditions, the range of the center of pressure was very large and the center of pressure was concentrated in a small area. The more difficult the standing condition, the smaller the range of the center of pressure, and the wider the scatter of the center of pressure. Under very difficult standing conditions, the range of the center of pressure was almost as large as the area in which the center of pressure was scattered. Since the range of the center of pressure is closely connected with the scatter of the center of pressure, it may be possible to determine the accuracy of stance regulation by analyzing the range of the center of pressure and the scatter of the center of pressure.

Adult↗

Plantar pressure changes using a novel negative pressure wound therapy technique.

This study evaluated changes in pressure imparted to diabetic foot wounds using a novel negative pressure bridging technique coupled with a robust removable cast walker. Ten patients had plantar pressures assessed with and without a bridged negative pressure dressing on the foot. Off-loading was accomplished with a pressure-relief walker. Plantar pressures were recorded using two pressure-measurement systems. The location and value of peak focal pressure (taken from six midgait steps) were recorded at the site of ulceration. Paired analysis revealed a large difference (mean +/- SD, 74.6% +/- 6.0%) between baseline barefoot pressure and pressure within the pressure-relief walker (mean +/- SD, 939.1 +/- 195.1 versus 235.7 +/- 66.1 kPa). There was a mean +/- SD 9.9% +/- 5.6% higher pressure in the combination device compared with the pressure-relief walker alone (mean +/- SD, 258.0 +/- 69.7 versus 235.7 +/- 66.1 kPa). This difference was only 2% of the initial barefoot pressure imparted to the wound. A modified negative pressure dressing coupled with a robust removable cast walker may not impart undue additional stress to the plantar aspect of the foot and may allow patients to retain some degree of freedom (and a potentially reduced length of hospital stay) while still allowing for the beneficial effects of negative pressure wound therapy and sufficient off-loading.

Bandages↗

Treatment of hypertensive patients according to the conventional or ambulatory pressure: a progress report on the APTH trial. APTH Investigators. Ambulatory Blood Pressure and Treatment of Hypertension.

The main objective of the Ambulatory Blood Pressure and Treatment of Hypertension (APTH) trial is to test the hypothesis that antihypertensive treatment based on ambulatory monitoring may be more beneficial than treatment guided by conventional sphygmomanometry. After a 2-month run-in period on single-blind placebo, hypertensive patients were randomized to two groups, one in which the target pressure was a sitting diastolic pressure from 80 through 89 mm Hg on conventional sphygmomanometry (conventional blood pressure [CBP] group), and one in which a daytime (from 10 to 20 h) diastolic pressure from 80 through 89 mm Hg had to be achieved (ambulatory blood pressure [ABP] group). After randomization all patients were started on lisinopril 10 mg/day. One month later lisinopril could be continued at 10 or 20 mg/day or discontinued depending on the attained blood pressure level. This article is an interim report on 207 patients followed for two months into the trial. At one month lisinopril was discontinued more frequently in the ABP than the CBP group (24 vs 9 patients, p = 0.004). Nevertheless at two months, blood pressure control was not significantly different in the two treatment groups. The baseline-adjusted differences in systolic pressure between the two treatment arms of the trial (ABP-CBP group) were +2.7 mm Hg (95% confidence interval [CI]): -2.9, +8.3) for the conventional pressure, +0.4 mm Hg (CI: -4.3, +5.1) for the 24 h pressure, -0.1 mm Hg (CI: -5.1, +4.8) for the daytime pressure and -0.7 mm Hg (CI: -6.7, +5.4) for the night-time pressure. The corresponding differences in diastolic pressure were -1.3 mm Hg (CI: -4, +1.4), +0.1 mm Hg (CI: -3, +3.1), -1.1 mmgH (CI: -4.4, +2.1) and +0.3 mm Hg (CI: -3.7, +4.3), respectively. Thus, the present findings do not refute the APTH research hypothesis. In terms of blood pressure control and the number of patients remaining on antihypertensive drugs, treatment based on ambulatory recordings may be preferable to treatment guided by conventional sphygmomanometry.

Antihypertensive Agents↗

Mucosal pressure and oropharyngeal leak pressure with the ProSeal versus laryngeal mask airway in anaesthetized paralysed patients.

The ProSeal laryngeal mask airway (PLMA) is a new laryngeal mask device with a larger, wedge-shaped cuff and a drainage tube. We tested the hypothesis that directly measured mucosal pressure and oropharyngeal leak pressure (OLP) are higher for the PLMA compared with the laryngeal mask airway (LMA). We also assess the mechanism of seal, and the reliability of cuff volume, in vivo intracuff pressure and calculated mucosal pressure (in vivo minus in vitro intracuff pressure) to predict directly measured mucosal pressure. Thirty-two anaesthetized, paralysed adult patients were randomly allocated to receive either a size 4 LMA or PLMA. Microchip sensors were attached at locations corresponding to: (a) base of tongue; (b) distal oropharynx; (c) hypopharynx; (d) lateral pharynx; (e) posterior pharynx; and (f) pyriform fossa. In vitro and in vivo intracuff pressures, OLP and directly measured mucosal pressure were documented at zero volume and after each 10 ml up to 40 ml. Directly measured mucosal pressure was similar between devices for a given cuff volume, but was lower for the PLMA for a given OLP. Directly measured mucosal pressure was highest in the distal oropharynx for both devices, but rarely (< 5%) exceeded 35 cm H2O. OLP was higher for the PLMA at all cuff volumes. Directly measured mucosal pressure was usually lower than OLP for both devices, and there was a positive correlation between directly measured mucosal pressure and OLP. Cuff volume, in vivo intracuff pressure and calculated mucosal pressure were poor to moderate predictors of directly measured mucosal pressure for the LMA and PLMA. We conclude that the PLMA forms a better seal than the LMA without an increase in directly measured mucosal pressure.

Adult↗

Effects of graded reductions in coronary perfusion pressure on the diastolic pressure-segment length relation and the rate of isovolumic relaxation in the resting conscious dog.

To assess the relations between coronary perfusion pressure, blood flow, and the diastolic pressure-segment length relation in the conscious animal, circumflex pressure was incrementally decreased in 10 resting, chronically instrumented dogs by a hydraulic occluding cuff while monitoring left ventricular pressure and regional segment length (with piezoelectric crystals) in the circumflex and left anterior descending territories. In five dogs, regional blood flow was measured by microsphere injections at selected circumflex pressures. The diastolic portion of the pressure-segment length curve was unchanged when decrements in circumflex pressure were within the autoregulatory range, that is, unassociated with changes in blood flow or systolic function. Further decrements in circumflex pressure, which decreased blood flow and regional segment shortening (both p less than 0.05), caused a progressive downward and rightward shift of the pressure-segment length curve (p less than 0.05). The rate of relaxation, as measured by tau (the time constant of pressure decay during isovolumic relaxation, which is calculated assuming either a fixed or a variable asymptote) and peak negative dP/dt, decreased slightly during reductions in circumflex pressure within the autoregulatory range and greatly at lower pressure (all p less than 0.05). Thus, in the conscious animal, reductions in coronary perfusion pressure within the autoregulatory range do not affect the diastolic pressure-segment length curve but cause modest decreases in the rate of isovolumic relaxation. Further reductions in coronary perfusion pressure, below the limits of blood flow autoregulation, cause an increased extent of relaxation with a marked downward shift of the diastolic pressure-segment length curve as well as a large decrease in the rate of relaxation.

Animals↗

Reactivity of blood pressure to mental arithmetic stress test, stress-test recovery time, and ambulatory blood pressure in hypertensive and normotensive subjects.

BACKGROUND: Laboratory mental stress testing and 24 h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring may analyse reactivity of blood pressure during provoked stress and stressful situations in daily-life, respectively. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether the responses to a mental stress test and during the stress-test recovery time were associated with ambulatory blood pressure parameters. METHODS: Fifty-two untreated male subjects (22 normotensives and 30 hypertensives) were subjected both to mental arithmetic stress testing and ambulatory blood pressure monitoring. RESULTS: We found a positive correlation between baseline and peak-test blood pressures during the stress test and 24 h blood pressures. Maximal values of systolic and diastolic blood pressures measured during the 24 h were also correlated to the maximal systolic and diastolic blood pressures reached during the stress test ( P < 0.001). We observed no relationship between reactivity during the stress test and 24 h parameters. On the contrary, changes in diastolic blood pressure during the time of recovery from the stress test (expressed as percentage-change scores) were correlated to the 24 h diastolic blood pressure parameters, the diastolic load being the most closely associated variable. CONCLUSION: The absence of relationships between variations in blood pressure during the provoked stress and ambulatory monitoring parameters indicates that reactivity of blood pressure to an acute stress does not predict the 24 h profile. However, the correlation between the maximal blood pressure measured by ambulatory monitoring and that observed during stress testing indicates that the maximal 24 h values may show the extreme blood pressure response (like the one provoked acutely by a laboratory stress test) of an individual subject. The correlation between the percentage-change score during the recovery time of diastolic blood pressure and the 24 h diastolic load could account forr a lower than normal capacity for recovery of subjects with persistently high blood pressures.

Journal Article↗

Radial arterial pressure measurements may be a poor guide to the beneficial effects of nitroprusside on left ventricular systolic pressure in congestive heart failure.

The effect of nitroprusside on pressure wave transmission from ascending aorta to radial artery was studied in 10 patients with severe congestive heart failure. Nitroprusside resulted in a beneficial increase in cardiac index, reduction of pulmonary wedge pressure and reductions of aortic and radial arterial mean pressures. In 6 patients with an identifiable late systolic peak of aortic pressure (group I), nitroprusside reduced aortic systolic pressure more than radial systolic pressure, resulting in an increase in the difference between aortic and radial systolic arterial pressure (group I control 13 +/- 4, nitroprusside 20 +/- 6 mm Hg; p less than 0.025). Yet in 4 patients in whom no aortic late systolic pressure wave was apparent (group II), nitroprusside did not alter the difference between aortic and radial systolic pressures. Radial arterial pressure is often used to estimate the effect of nitroprusside on the arterial pressure load on the left ventricle. These results indicate that a reduction of radial systolic pressure induced by nitroprusside may underestimate the true reduction of aortic systolic pressure and thus the effect of the vasodilator on the arterial load on the left ventricle. The enhanced difference between aortic and radial arterial systolic pressures appears to be the consequence of nitroprusside on arterial pressure reflections.

Adult↗

Blood pressure response to stress tests does not reflect blood pressure variability and degree of cardiovascular involvement in young hypertensives.

The aim of the study was to assess the clinical value of blood pressure response to stress tests and to study its relationship with ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, daily blood pressure variability and hypertensive complications. Cold pressor test for 2 min, hand grip test at 25% of maximal voluntary contraction for 5 min and orthostatism were performed in 223 young men found hypertensive (BP systolic > 140 mmHg and/or diastolic > 90 mmHg) at the military service recruitment check-up. On the basis of ECG and fundoscopic examination, each patient was attributed a score of target organ damage. All patients underwent non-invasive 24-h blood pressure monitoring and 169 patients underwent echocardiographic examination. Hypertension was confirmed in 54.2% of the subjects at ambulatory monitoring. No correlation was found between blood pressure response to stress tests and ambulatory blood pressure, daily blood pressure variability, target organ damage and left ventricular mass. Night-time ambulatory blood pressure were correlated with posterior wall thickness/ventricular diastolic internal diameter ratio (r = 0.26, P < 0.001). A negative correlation was found between the office-daytime blood pressure difference and systolic and diastolic response to orthostatic test (r = -0.309, P < 0.0001 for systolic blood pressure and r = -0.433, P < 0.0001 for diastolic blood pressure) and between supine office blood pressure and blood pressure response to orthostatism (r = -0.186. P = 0.013 for systolic blood pressure and r = -0.442, P < 0.0001 for diastolic blood pressure).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗

Transstenotic coronary pressure gradient measurement in humans: in vitro and in vivo evaluation of a new pressure monitoring angioplasty guide wire.

OBJECTIVES: The present study was designed to investigate 1) the feasibility and accuracy of coronary pressure measurements with a novel 0.015-in. (0.038 cm) fluid-filled guide wire, and 2) the effect of the guide wire itself on stenosis hemodynamics. BACKGROUND: To assess the functional results of coronary angioplasty, measurements of the transstenotic pressure gradient have been advocated. However, this gradient is no longer routinely measured because it is not reliable when determined with the angioplasty catheter. METHODS: A fluid-filled 0.015-in. guide wire to be connected to a conventional pressure transducer was developed. Five wires were tested for their frequency response characteristics and for their accuracy in measuring hydrostatic pressure. In an in vitro model of stenosis (reference diameter 4 mm), the pressure gradient was determined at incremental flow levels for varying stenosis severity with and without a 0.015-in. guide wire through the narrowing. In 37 patients, the transstenotic pressure gradient was measured before and after angioplasty and compared with obstruction area and percent area stenosis as determined by quantitative coronary angiography. RESULTS: The correlation between the actual pressure and the pressure recorded by the guide wire was excellent (r = 0.98) despite a slight underestimation (-3 +/- 5%). Phasic pressure recordings were precluded by a long time constant of 16 +/- 4 s. The presence of the guide wire produced a significant overestimation (> 20%) of the pressure decrease only in cases of tight stenosis (> 90% area reduction). Furthermore, a theoretic model based on the fluid dynamic equation predicted that this overestimation was inversely proportional to the reference diameter of the vessel, yet was only slightly influenced by the flow. The lesion was crossed in all but one patient (97%) and pressure gradient was recorded throughout the study in 34 (94%) of 36 patients. The mean pressure gradient decreased from 30 +/- 19 before to 3 +/- 5 mm Hg after angioplasty (p < 0.01). A curvilinear relation was found between the pressure gradient and both percent area stenosis (r2 = 0.67) and obstruction area (r2 = 0.72). A sharp increase in pressure gradient was noted once the stenosis exceeded 75% area reduction. CONCLUSIONS: Mean transstenotic pressure gradients can be easily and reliably recorded with a 0.015-in. fluid-filled guide wire. This ability should facilitate the functional assessment of coronary stenoses of intermediate severity and of immediate postangioplasty results.

Adult↗

Ambulatory monitoring of blood pressure disturbs sleep and raises systolic pressure at night in patients suspected of suffering from sleep-disordered breathing.

1. The aim of the study was to assess the effect of ambulatory monitoring of blood pressure on sleep and on blood pressure in middle-aged patients. 2. Nine consecutive patients (seven men, two women; mean age 57 years) complaining of snoring and various degrees of excessive daytime somnolence were studied. Five patients were normotensive and four were being treated for hypertension. During one night standard laboratory polysomnography was performed with monitoring of blood pressure by a silent ambulatory monitor and continuous infrared blood pressure by photoplethysmography. 3. Ambulatory blood pressure significantly disturbs sleep architecture, causing EEG arousals in 64% of measurements, and induces a significant rise in blood pressure during systolic pressure measurement by the ambulatory monitor (rise in systolic pressure, 13.7 +/- 15.9 mmHg, P < 0.001; rise in diastolic pressure, 3.7 +/- 8.2 mmHg, P < 0.01). At the time of diastolic measurement, blood pressure had returned to the preinflation value. The rise in systolic blood pressure was higher when an arousal was associated with cuff inflation (P < 0.001). This rise in blood pressure is probably the consequence of sympathetic nervous system activation. 4. We conclude that ambulatory blood pressure recordings of systolic blood pressure during sleep should be interpreted with caution as systolic blood pressure may be significantly increased in patients suspected of suffering from sleep-disordered breathing.

Adult↗

Site of pressure measurement during spontaneous breathing with continuous positive airway pressure: effect on calculating imposed work of breathing.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the importance of measuring pressure at the tracheal end of the endotracheal tube during spontaneous breathing with continuous positive airway pressure in order to correctly assess: a) the changes in airway pressure and b) the work imposed by the breathing apparatus. DESIGN: Multitrial tests under simulated clinical conditions using a mechanical lung model. SETTING: A research laboratory at a university medical center. INTERVENTIONS: Spontaneous breathing with continuous positive airway pressure, at peak sinusoidal inspiratory flow-rate demands of 30 and then 60 L/min with sizes 6, 7, 8, and 9 mm internal diameter endotracheal tubes at each flow rate. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Pressure, flow rate, and inhaled and exhaled volumes, during simulated spontaneous ventilation with continuous positive airway pressure were measured. Pressure was measured alternately at the "Y" piece of the breathing tubing of the continuous positive airway pressure system and at the tracheal end of the endotracheal tube to calculate the work imposed by the breathing circuit, endotracheal tube, and the total breathing apparatus. Greater changes in pressure and work were measured at the tracheal end of the endotracheal tube than at the "Y" piece of the breathing tubing for all test conditions. For example, at a peak inspiratory flow-rate demand of 30 L/min when pressures measured at the tracheal end of endotracheal tubes were compared with pressures measured at the "Y"piece, the total work imposed by the breathing apparatus increased by approximately 145% with a 6-mm tube, 95% with a 7-mm tube, 50% with an 8-mm tube, and 40% with a 9-mm tube (p less than .05). Measuring pressure at the "Y" piece of the tubing results in significant underestimations of the changes in pressure and the work imposed, especially when the endotracheal tube has a small internal diameter and/or when the peak inspiratory flow-rate demand is high. CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that pressure should be measured as close to the patient's airway as possible, i.e., at the tracheal end of the endotracheal tube, rather than using the traditional approach of measuring pressure and assessing work at the inspiratory or expiratory limbs, or "Y" piece of the breathing tubing.

Humans↗