HSC 4555 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Korotkoff Sounds, Baroreceptor, Peripheral Nervous System
Document Summary
Systemic arterial blood pressure varies with the cardiac cycle. The highest pressure (systolic) corresponds to ejection of blood from the left ventricle into the aorta. The lowest point in pressure (diastolic) occurs at the end of diastole, just before the next ventricular contraction. Blood pressure is the product of the co (hr sv) and svr. Changes in any of these variables will change blood pressure. The arterioles create most of the resistance in the vascular system; changes in the diameter of these vessels profoundly affect svr and therefore, blood pressure. The difference between the systolic and diastolic pressures is called the pulse pressure. The average pressure within the systemic arterial system is the map, mathematically derived from the two pressure values. Blood pressure can be directly measured with a catheter placed within an artery and specific computer software. Systolic pressure is recorded as the onset of the korotkoff sounds, and their disappearance is recorded as the diastolic pressure.
