Cardiovascular Lab Offers Central Aortic Blood Pressure Assessment

The Phelps CardioVascular Laboratory has a new device, the SphygmoCor® CP Central Blood Pressure Assessment and Management System by AtCor Medical USA, which allows for non-invasive measurement of blood pressure within the aorta, the large artery that extends out from the heart. Measuring blood pressure near the heart is thought to be more predictive of cardiovascular events, such as stroke and heart attack, than using traditional blood pressure measurements from the arm. In some cases, the more precise measurement of pressure near the heart is lower than the peripheral pressure reading from the arm and as in "white coat hypertension."

The device has been in use for many years on an investigational basis. The Mayo Clinic has used it since 2003. Two major studies - the Strong Heart Study and the CAFE study- showed that the risk for cardiovascular disease increased by 11% for every 10-point rise in central aortic pressure and that traditional brachial pressure readings (from the arm) were not significant predictors.

The purchase of the non-invasive blood pressure computer was made possible by a donation from the Richenthal Foundation. This gift is the most recent in a series of contributions from several donors over the past 40 years, which have included: the Hospital's first echocardiogram; a trans-esophageal echocardiograph to look at the heart from inside the body; a beat-to-beat pressure monitor used for tilt-table evaluation of people who faint; and technology for heart rate variability-based autonomic nervous system monitoring.

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