What is pressure pulse wave in systemic artery?

Question

What is pressure pulse wave in systemic artery?

Answer 1

Interesting question.

Pulse pressure is the difference between the top (systolic) and bottom (diastolic) blood pressure readings.

This is different from an arterial pressure wave:

Arterial pressure wave is essentially what is felt as a "pulse" over the skin, which results from a wave of energy from the contracting heart to the wall of a systemic (or non-pulmonary) artery.

The pulse in the arm, neck, or leg is felt long before blood reaches the artery. The aorta, or main artery of the heart, stretches during the contraction of the heart, and the energy from this stretching is transmitted to the smaller arteries.

Since you can't distend a smaller artery (like in your arm) much more than a largery artery (like the aorta), most of tthe pulse energy from the aorta is transmitted in a linear fashion along the artery, making the wave move forward much faster than it did in the aorta. That's why a pulse is faster than blood flow.

The pulse isn't always an accurate measure of the heart rate since not all heart beats are strong enough to distend the aorta, which is the origin of all pulses.

Hope this helps.