INDIRECT ESTIMATION OF SYSTOLIC AND DIASTOLIC BLOOD PRESSURE IN THE NEWBORN

Abstract

An impedance plethysmographic method for measuring systolic and diastolic blood pressures in small infants using standard electro-cardiogram recorders has been studied. The overall 95% confidence limit of the mean of five estimations was found to be ±3.74 mm Hg for the systolic and ±3.72 mm Hg for the diastolic value.

Comparing this method with intra-arterial measurements gave correlation coefficients (r) of 0.95 (bias 10.09 mm Hg) for systolic pressure and 0.89 (Bias 10.09 mm Hg) for diastolic pressure. Values for the comparison with auscultation were 0.98 (bias 19.29 mm Hg) systolic and 0.86 (bias 10.17 mm Hg) diastolic, and for the comparison of the arithmetic mean value with the flush method 0.84 (bias 30.17 mm Hg). These results reveal a good correlation with the intra-arterial measurements and indicate that this technique can be used for the periodic or continuous blood pressure monitoring of infants.