Page 42 - Clinical Pearls in Cardiology

30 Clinical Pearls in Cardiology

Fig. 3: Method of palpating arterial pulse with collapsing character

• The examiner should then assess the condition of the
patient’s vessel wall. For this, he should first obliterate
the blood flow through the patient’s radial artery with
his index finger. Then he should empty the vessel
peripherally with his ring finger. Then he should try
to roll the radial artery over the underlying bone with
his middle finger. If the vessel wall is thickened, then
the artery can be felt like a thickened cord and it can
be rolled over the bone.
• The examiner should then examine the peripheral
pulses to look for radioradial or radiofemoral delay.