MEASUREMENT OF BLOOD PRESSURE IN INFANTS AND CHILDREN BY THE DOPPLER ULTRASONIC TECHNIQUE

Abstract

Simultaneous determination of arterial pressures by the Doppler ultrasonic technique and intra-arterial measurements were done on 13 children during cardiac catheterization at the St. Louis Children's Hospital. Their ages ranged from 4 weeks to 14 years. Sixty-nine paired determinations were obtained. There was good correlation between the two methods for systolic pressures ranging from 70 to 150 mm Hg (correlation coefficient 0.945) as well as for the diastolic pressures which ranged from 36 to 73 mm Hg (correlation coefficient 0.754). The instrumentation is not elaborate; the method is simple and can be used by a physician, nurse, or nurse's aide for routine blood pressure determination in infants and children.