Intra-arterial and cuff blood pressure responses during incremental cycle ergometry.

Brachial intra-arterial blood pressure [systolic (AS) and diastolic (AD)] and cuff blood pressure [systolic (CS) and fourth- and fifth-phase diastolic (CD)] were simultaneously measured by a single observer in 13 middle-aged men during 1-min incremental cycle exercise. On the average, the mean AS exceeded the mean CS by 10 to 11 mm Hg, while the mean AD exceeded the average fourth and fifth CD by 5 and 13 mm Hg, respectively. During incremental exercise, AS, CS, AD, and fourth-phase CD increased, while fifth-phase CD decreased. We also measured intra-arterial blood pressure in nine young adult men smokers during 1-min incremental cycle exercise. In both groups, the average intra-arterial blood pressures increased in a relatively linear fashion from rest to maximal exercise: AS change = 74 +/- 5 mm Hg (SE) and AD change = 28 +/- 3 mm Hg for young men; AS change = 59 +/- 5 mm Hg and AD change = 12 +/- 3 mm Hg for middle-aged men. In this population of middle-aged smokers, intra-arterial mean blood pressure during exercise approximated diastolic plus 2/5 pulse pressure for intra-arterial measures or diastolic plus 1/2 pulse pressure for cuff measures rather than the traditional formula of diastolic plus 1/3 pulse pressure.