TYPES OF THE ARTERIAL WAVEFORMS

Configuration of the arterial waveform at various sites in the arterial tree.(From Blitt CD, Hines RL: Monitoring in anesthesia and critical care medicine, ed 3)

  As the arterial pressure is transmitted from the central aorta to the peripheral arteries, the waveform is distorted. Transmission is delayed, high-frequency components such as the dicrotic notch are lost, the systolic peak increases, and the diastolic trough is decreased. The changes in systolic and diastolic pressures result from a decrease in the arterial wall compliance and from resonance (the addition of reflected waves to the arterial waveform as it travels distally in the arterial tree). The systolic BP in the radial artery may be as much as 20 to 50 mm Hg higher than the pressure in the central aorta.