Abstract
Systemic arterial compliance (SAC) defining the hemodynamics for the aged can be calculated from the blood pressure waveform of the carotid artery recorded by applanation tonometry (AT). However, the recording of the waveform by AT is not easy. This study was intended to investigate the validity of evaluation method of SAC using volume clamp method (VC) at peripheral artery (finger artery). Continuous blood pressure waveform was measured using VC and AT for 47 elderly patients. Blood pressure waveform of finger artery was transformed by transfer function into waveform of brachial artery. Significant correlationship (r=0.73) between the measured values of the ratio of the area under arterial blood pressure waveform at one heart beat cycle and at left ventricular diastole by VC and AT was observed, and its agreement was good. As a consequence, validity of the method using waveform of brachial artery transformed from the blood pressure waveform recorded at peripheral artery by VC was verified as a noninvasive estimate of systemic arterial compliance for elderly people.
