Question

A 57-year-old woman is complaining of chest pain. Her blood pressure is 109/88 and her respirations are at 22 per minute. What condition does the patient's blood pressure indicate? a) Low pulse pressure b) Paradoxical pressure c) Martiners Rule d) Systolic transcardiac ischemia

Answer 1

Low pulse pressure

Rationale: A pulse pressure is considered abnormally low if it is less than 25% of the systolic value. In this question it is about 20% of the systolic value. The pulse pressure is the difference between the systolic and diastolic measurements of the blood pressure. 109 systolic - 88 diastolic = 21 mmHg. In trauma a low pulse pressure suggests significant blood loss. If the pulse pressure is extremely low, i.e. 25 mmHg or less, the cause may be low stroke volume, as in Congestive Heart Failure and/or shock. A low pulse pressure can also be caused by aortic valve stenosis and cardiac tamponade.