Page 40 - Clinical Pearls in Cardiology

Chapt er
2 Arterial Pulse and
Blood Pressure

1. What is the definition of arterial pulse?
Pulse is defined as a waveform felt over an artery as a
result of the expansion and elongation of the arterial
wall due to the pressure changes within the artery during
ventricular systole and diastole. The normal arterial
pulse wave consists of various waveforms as shown in
Figure 1.
The percussion wave is due to the increased pressure
and velocity of blood flow during ventricular systole.
The tidal wave is produced by the reflected waves
from periphery. The dicrotic notch occurs at the end

Fig. 1: Normal arterial pulse wave